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Friendsies NFT creators deny ‘abandoning’ project amid rug pull allegations

The Friendsies NFT collection responded to accusations it was behind a $5 million rug pull after announcing a “pause” of the project.

The team behind nonfungible token collection Friendsies has refuted claims they are “abandoning” the NFT project following a tsunami of “rug pull” accusations.

On Feb. 21, the founders behind the NFT project told their Twitter followers that they werputting a “pause” on Friendsies and “all future digital goods” for the time being, citing market challenges.

Around 40 minutes later, the Twitter account was deleted, while the account of Friendswithyou, who developed the project, was made private — sparking rumors that the founders had “rugged” for about $5 million.

The project’s Twitter account has since been reinstated with the founders vehemently denying they are “abandoning” the project. The founders’ account is still private, however.

“It is clear that we have upset many of you with the nature of our announcement, and perhaps we did not handle that in the best way possible,” they said, adding:

“To be very clear, we are not abandoning fRiENDSiES.”

The founders said the initial announcement was more about pausing social engagement “until further notice.”

“That was not intended to mean we are pausing building and seeking opportunities, those efforts remain on-going,” it added.

Friendsies is a collection of 10,000 Ethereum-based NFTs that launched last March. It purported to give each holder a custom-built “digital companion” thatcould be used in the metaverse, real-life experiences, art installations, and eventually a “Tomogatchi-like” play-to-earn game.

Friendsies NFT collection listing on OpenSea. Source: OpenSea

There are currently 3,323 owners of Friendsies NFTs. The collection has a floor price of 0.012 Ether (ETH) (approximately $20) and a trading volume of 3,775 ETH, according to data from OpenSea.

In the initial announcement, Friendsies said the “volatility and challenges of the market have made it very difficult to move this project forward in a way we can be proud of.”

In the follow-up Twitter thread some 17 hours after the pause announcement, the project’s founders admitted they were “overwhelmed” with hate and threats over the announcement:

“We were overwhelmed with hate and threats & both our Twitter and website were attacked […] We are sorry if we let you down today with our communication, but we are not going anywhere,” it wrote.

Related: NFTs will act as high-end property during boom cycles: Real Vision CEO

Mastercard’s former NFT product lead, Satvik Sethi, who resigned in spectacular fashion earlier this month, has even made an offer to take over the Friendsies NFT project.

“I’ll install a new team and take the project forward with a different vision,” he said.

“[Friendswithyou] if you care at all about your holders like you’ve always claimed, do the right thing. Don’t abandon people who put their trust in you despite all the noise. Hit me up, let’s discuss it.”

Breaking: Circle squashes rumors of planned SEC enforcement action

Rumors swirled on Twitter that the stablecoin issuer received a litigation notice from the U.S. securities regulator, but a Circle executive rebuffed the claim.

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle has denied rumors that it received a “Wells Notice” over its United States dollar-pegged stablecoin.

On Feb. 14, a now-deleted tweet from Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett claimed Circle had been ordered by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to cease the sale of USDC due to the stablecoin being an unregistered security. 

However, the rumor was swiftly rebuffed by Dante Disparte, chief strategy officer and head of global policy at Circle Pay. Replying on Twitter just 15 minutes after Terrett’s tweet, Disparte said his firm has not received a Wells Notice. 

A Wells Notice is a formal notice sent by the SEC informing the recipient that the agency plans to bring enforcement actions against them. 

In response to Circle’s denial, Terrett said she “went with the word of several trusted sources” and apologized for the mistake. 

Dante accepted her apology, adding:

“Alas, there is a lot of churn, swirl and rumors informing the market right now.”

The original tweet from Terrett has since been deleted. Her account on Twitter was temporarily deleted but has since returned.

Fears of regulatory action against stablecoin issuers have been running high this week after Paxos Trust Company, the issuer of Binance USD (BUSD), confirmed that it had received a Wells Notice alleging it failed to register the offering under federal securities laws. 

Related: Stablecoins not the target in BUSD crackdown: Matrixport head of research

Asked earlier this week whether Circle had received a similar notice from the SEC concerning USDC, Disparte told Cointelegraph: 

“Circle maintains that USDC is a regulated dollar digital currency issued as stored value under U.S. money transmission law.”

“Facts and circumstances in any type of regulatory action like this are all different, as are the structural and regulatory considerations with each of the cryptocurrencies that are in circulation around the world,” he added.

Do Dogecoin’s (DOGE) and Shiba Inu’s (SHIB) stalled rallies mean the memecoin trend is dead?

Absent shill and bullish newsflow, DOGE and SHIB have struggled to keep up with the wider crypto market rally that occurred in January.

The memecoin phenomenon didn’t prove as effective in the last month’s crypto market rally, as the gains of the top cryptocurrencies in this category barely outperformed Bitcoin. The monthly gain of Bitcoin (BTC) stood at 44.5%, while the top two meme-based coins, Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), gained 27% and 40.7%, respectively.

Top meme-coins by total market capitalizations. Source: CoinMarketCap

Doge needs a market moving catalyst

Dogecoin is losing its popularity, as its most prominent supporter Elon Musk is reportedly developing an independent Twitter Coin instead of integrating his favorite cryptocurrency with the social media platform.

For the greater part of 2022, DOGE/USD performed poorly except for when Elon Musk acquired Twitter. The acquisition raised hopes in the Dogecoin community about increased cryptocurrency usage.

However, without any tangible announcements or reports from Twitter hinting at Dogecoin usage, the 100% price surge from October reversed in the following two months. The Google search volume for the token has also subsided since Q1 2022.

The NVT ratio for Dogecoin. Source: Coinmetrics
Google trends score for “Dogecoin” and “Shiba Inu” Source: Google Trends

Another factor influencing the price of DOGE last year was the launch of Dogechain. An EVM-compatible blockchain that uses DOGE as the gas-paying token. However, Dogechain failed to gain user traction, becoming a place mainly for “shitcoin” trading. Currently, less than 1% of DOGE is bridged on Dogechain.

Lastly, the on-chain data for Dogecoin suggests that the price may be overpriced. The Network Value to Transaction Value (NVT) ratio metric is a price-to-earning ratio equivalent for the cryptocurrency markets. The metric measures the ratio of the market capitalization of the token against its transaction volume. Higher transaction volume compared to the market value corresponds to low NVT readings.

Coinmetrics’ historic NVT chart of Dogecoin suggests that the token could be overpriced. For the last eight years, the NFT ratio has oscillated between 10 and 100, with a few outliers during bull markets. Dogecoin’s NVT metric hasn’t tapped the bottom of its long-term range since mid-2021, which exposes it to more downside risk.

The NVT ratio for Dogecoin. Source: Coinmetrics

The internet’s first and most favorite meme coin would require a catalyst like a tweet from Elon Musk, or drastic change in the token’s tokenomics or fundamentals to revive a positive run in the short-term.

DOGE/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Dogecoin has been trading in a range between $0.05 and $0.14 since last June. A breakout from the range could see continued momentum in the direction of the breakout. 

Related: Rumor has it that Dogecoin could shift to proof-of-stake

Shiba Inu’s brand building strategy may not be enough

Like Dogecoin, the weakening memecoin narrative affected the buying strength of Shiba Inu. The second-largest memecoin has been working on enhancing the brand value of Shiba Inu by forming partnerships with clothing brands like Bugatti Group and English designer John Richmond.

The Google Trend score of Shiba Inu shows a similar depressing pattern since early 2022 as Dogecoin, with no spikes in search volume since the crypto bull mania of 2021 subsided in Q1 2022.

Like Dogecoin, the Shiba community also has an independent blockchain, Shibarium, which is owned by the Shiba community. However, the blockchain’s gas-paying token is BONE instead of SHIB, which brings no real value to the token holders of SHIB.

The total balance of SHIB on crypto exchanges jumped earlier in January, which is a negative sign, exposing the token to more sell-offs. On the contrary, the smart money wallets identified by Nansen increased their holdings slightly on Jan. 25, which may add some strength to the recent rally.

Token balance on exchanges. Source: Nansen 

On a weekly time-frame, the token is trading between $0.00000825 and $0.00001794. A breakout from this range will likely see a strong move in the direction of the breakout. The midpoint of the range at $0.00001200 is also acting as a resistance level for buyers. 

SHIB/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

While the top meme tokens have seen fading momentum, Floki Inu and Solana’s BONK token had impressive runs in January thanks to an SOL price rise and tokenomics improvement with Floki Inu. The Floki community voted to burn $100 million worth of FLOKI tokens, which nearly doubled its price on Jan. 29. 

Generally, it appears that the memecoin phenomenon from 2021 has lost its steam considerably. While the memecoins are moving with the rest of the market, their performance has been average. Improvements in the projects by the team or community have become essential to push these tokens back up.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin pumped 43% in January 2023! What to expect in February — Watch The Market Report live

On this week’s episode of The Market Report, Cointelegraph’s resident experts discuss what the second month of 2023 could potentially hold for BTC.

This week on The Market Report, the resident experts at Cointelegraph discuss Bitcoin’s (BTC) impressive January rally and whether there are any indicators that suggest it could continue in February.

We start off this week’s show with the latest news in the markets:

Best January since 2013? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

After sealing its highest weekly close in almost six months, BTC/USD remains over 40% up year-to-date, with the monthly close just 48 hours away — can the gains hold? Throughout, concerns have called for an imminent come-down, and even new macro BTC price lows as disbelief swept the market. That grim turnaround has yet to come to fruition, and the coming days could yet turn out to be a crucial period for Bitcoin’s long-term trend. It’s going to be a busy week for the markets as the United States Federal Reserve will decide on its next rate hike this week, with Fed Chairman Jerome Powell giving much-anticipated commentary on the economy and policy. The European Central Bank will make the same decision a day later. Add to that the psychological pressure of the monthly close, and it is easy to see how the coming week could be more volatile in Bitcoin’s recent history. So, buckle up as our experts break down the five key things to know in Bitcoin this week.

Bitcoin premium hits 60% in Nigeria as country limits ATM cash withdrawals

At the time of writing, the price of 1 BTC on the Nigerian crypto exchange NairaEX is 17.2 million nairas, equating to a whopping $37,341. That is a hefty premium over the current market price of Bitcoin, around $22,874 at the time of writing. It comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria has continued to impose limits on ATM cash withdrawals amid an ongoing effort to accelerate its shift to a cashless society. Will this have any impact on the price of Bitcoin, considering more and more people will be flocking to purchase the top digital currency, and how will it impact the rest of the markets?

Elon Musk wants Twitter payments system built with crypto in mind

Twitter chief Elon Musk has reportedly instructed his developers to build the platform’s payments system in such a way that crypto functionality can be added in the future. The payment feature will support fiat currencies to start with but will have the capability to accommodate cryptocurrencies if the opportunity arises. For now, things are still pretty vague as to whether the system will involve blockchain or crypto technology, but people are hopeful considering the Twitter CEO has had a lot of influence in the crypto space.

Our experts cover these and other developing stories, so make sure you tune in to stay up-to-date on the latest in the world of crypto.

Next up is a segment called “Quick Crypto Tips,” which aims to give newcomers to the crypto industry quick and easy tips to get the most out of their experience. This week’s tip: How do you evaluate a crypto project?

Market expert Marcel Pechman then carefully examines the Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) markets. Are the current market conditions bullish or bearish? What is the outlook for the next few months? Pechman is here to break it down.

Lastly, we’ve got insights from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, a platform for crypto traders who want to stay one step ahead of the market. Our analysts use Cointelegraph Markets Pro to identify two altcoins that stood out this week, so make sure to tune in to find out which ones made the cut.

Do you have a question about a coin or topic not covered here? Don’t worry — join the YouTube chat room and write your questions there. The person with the most interesting comment or question will have a chance to win a one-month subscription to Markets Pro worth $100.

The Market Report streams live every Tuesday at 12:00 pm ET (5:00 pm UTC), so be sure to head on over to Cointelegraph’s YouTube page and smash those Like and Subscribe buttons for all our future videos and updates.

Elon Musk wants Twitter payments system built with crypto in mind

Twitter’s upcoming payments tool will initially support only fiat currencies, but Elon Musk wants it built to potentially support crypto in the future.

Twitter chief Elon Musk has reportedly instructed his developers to build the platform’s payments system in such a way that crypto functionality can be added in the future.

According to a Jan. 30 Financial Times report, two people familiar with Twitter’s plans said that the payments feature will support fiat currencies to start but be built to accommodate cryptocurrencies should the opportunity arise.

Twitter has long teased bringing payments to the social media platform — forming part of Musk’s stated plan to make Twitter an “everything app.”

However, it has remained vague as to whether these payments will involve blockchain or crypto technology, despite the Twitter CEO seeing a big role for crypto on Twitter.

In early December, images were leaked revealing “Twitter Coins” — a secret in-development digital asset to be used for payments and tipping on the platform, with many hopeful it would involve crypto in some way.

However, the more recently leaked images of the project in early January made no mention of crypto or blockchain technology, much to the dismay of the community.

Unconfirmed rumors also emerged last October that Twitter was working on a wallet prototype that would support crypto deposits and withdrawals.

However, it appears for the time being, the payments system will go ahead with only fiat support.

To that end, Twitter has begun the application process for state-based regulatory licenses across the United States that would allow it to introduce payments to the platform.

One of the sources said the company hopes the U.S. licensing process will be completed within a year.

Related: The ‘Elon effect’ shows how opinion leaders shape the fintech market

In November, “Twitter Payments LLC” registered with the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which would allow it to process payments.

In a Twitter Space event around the same time, Musk said he envisioned allowing bank accounts to be connected to Twitter profiles and incorporating debit cards along with the platform being able to facilitate money transfers.

Following the future approval of the U.S. licenses, Twitter would eye gaining regulatory approvals internationally, according to one of the Financial Times’ sources.

Hackers take over Robinhood’s Twitter account to promote scam token

A since-removed tweet called on Robinhood’s 1.1 million Twitter followers to each pay $0.0005 for a token called ‘RBH’ on the Binance Smart Chain.

An unknown group or individual has hacked the Twitter account behind crypto and stock trading platform Robinhood to push users to buy a ‘new’ token.

Many Crypto Twitter users reported on Jan. 25 that Robinhood had posted a tweet calling on its 1.1 million followers to each pay $0.0005 for a token called ‘RBH’ on the Binance Smart Chain. Conor Grogan, the head of product business operations at Coinbase, reported at least 10 people had purchased roughly $1,000 worth of the scam token before the tweet was removed.

Likely due to the invocation of Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao reported the company’s security team had locked the account linked in the tweet “pending further investigations”. At the time of publication, the tweet was no longer visible on Robinhood’s account. A Robinhood spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the hacker — believed to be a “third party vendor” — had made posts on the platform’s Instagram and Facebook profiles as well.

“Always have critical thinking even [if] the account looks or is real,” said CZ.

Though the app facilitates the sale of many cryptocurrencies, Robinhood does not have a token directly tied to the platform as RBH falsely claimed. Investors can purchase exposure to the company through shares of HOOD listed on Nasdaq at roughly $9.71 at the time of publication.

Related: Robinhood shares claimed by BlockFi and FTX may move to a neutral broker

A major hack of many high profile Twitter accounts in July 2020 was used to scam users out of Bitcoin (BTC) by promising to send back double any crypto received. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has since purchased the social media platform and enacted many policies criticized by users, industry leaders, and lawmakers.

This article was updated on Jan. 25 to include a statement from Robinhood.

FTX bankruptcy lawyer: debtors face ‘assault by Twitter’ stemming from Sam Bankman-Fried

The judge ruled there were no potential conflicts of interest sufficient to stop Sullivan & Cromwell from continuing to act as the debtors’ counsel.

James Bromley, one of the lawyers representing debtors in FTX’s bankruptcy case, has criticized social media activity against his law firm promulgated by posts from former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

In a Jan. 20 hearing in the District of Delaware, lawyers spoke on motions dealing with potential conflicts of interest between Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm tasked with the investigation of FTX’s bankruptcy, and the crypto exchange. Bromley, a partner at Sullivan & Cromwell, pushed back against the narrative that the law firm would be unable to act as a disinterested examiner given it had previously provided legal services to FTX and one of its former partners, Ryne Miller, went on to become the FTX US lead counsel.

On Jan. 19, former FTX chief regulatory officer Daniel Friedberg filed a declaration with the court alleging that Miller wanted to drive business to Sullivan & Cromwell, claiming he wanted to become a partner with the firm following the bankruptcy case. Bromley argued in court that if the judge were to grant an adjournment based on these allegations, the debtors would face “additional attacks on Twitter” and similar filings likely resulting in delays.

Friedberg signed onto the virtual bankruptcy proceedings, but was not allowed to speak due to him not appearing in court in person. The judge ruled there were no potential conflicts of interest sufficient to bar Sullivan & Cromwell for continuing to act as the debtors’ counsel.

“One of the things that the debtors have been facing generally in these cases is assault by Twitter,” said Bromley. “It is very difficult, your honor, to cross examine a tweet, particularly tweets that are being issued by individuals who are under criminal indictment and whose travel is restricted.”

Related: US lawmakers call on court to approve ‘independent examiner’ in FTX bankruptcy case

Bromley later suggested Friedberg and Bankman-Fried had been using social media to “throw stones” at debtors for providing information to authorities, with the declaration coming “hot on the heels of two very long and rambling tweets” from SBF. He also noted that Bankman-Fried was “immediately online” to respond to a report in which CEO John Ray commented on FTX’s solvency and had criticized information intended to provide transparency for debtors.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried is behind all of this, and whenever we were to move this, wherever we moved it to, there is in my mind an absolute certainty that he’s going to try to do something to get in the way. He’s lashing out.”

At the time of publication, Bankman-Fried had not commented on the ruling, but retweeted speculation from others that Sullivan & Cromwell would continue to represent FTX debtors. 

Twitter’s crypto price index feature expands to 30 tokens and counting

Twitter quietly expanded its new crypto price search feature with 30 more cryptocurrencies added to the service.

Twitter has quietly expanded its new crypto feature that enables users to search the price of individual tokens, adding at least another 30 tokens.

The new additions are part of the social media giant’s “$Cashtags” feature, announced by the Twitter Business account on Dec. 21. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) were the first to be part of the new feature. 

Tweeting or searching for a crypto token or ticker symbol with a dollar sign ($) in front now links to pricing graphs for those symbols.

Cointelegraph found 30 of the top 50 tokens by market capitalization, including Tether (USDT), XRP (XRP), Binance USD (BUSD), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Litecoin (LTC), Dai (DAI), Avalanche (AVAX), Uniswap (UNI), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Dogecoin’s Twitter community was delighted with the addition, given new Twitter CEO Elon Musk has offered words of support for the cryptocurrency on many occasions.

There were, however, some notable omissions at the time of writing, such as BNB (BNB), USD Coin (USDC), OKB, Lido Staked Ether (stETH), Polkadot (DOT) and Tron (TRX).

This was despite the crypto tokens being listed in the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap.

Other tokens added include Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Stellar (XLM), Internet Computer (ICP), Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND).

Related: Crypto fans should get behind Elon Musk’s subscription model for Twitter

It’s unclear how the tokens will eventually be added, but the Twitter Business account’s original announcement said that more cryptocurrencies would continue to be added.

The price index is understood to pull its data from TradingView, but also includes a link to view the cryptocurrency on the online trading platform Robinhood.

No partnership agreement between the two have been officially published, however.

Since taking over the reins of Twitter, Musk has shared glimpses into what his vision of “Twitter 2.0” may look like, including the possible integration of cryptocurrency-based payments on Twitter.

Scaramucci to invest in crypto firm founded by former FTX US boss

It is understood the crypto software company will enable crypto traders to create algorithmic-based strategies to access different markets.

SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci is investing in a crypto company founded by the former president of FTX US.

Scaramucci told Bloomberg in an email that he would be investing his own personal funds to support ex-FTX US president Brett Harrison’s new venture, which was revealed just three weeks after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.

It is understood that the crypto software company — which doesn’t yet have a name — will enable crypto traders to create algorithmic-based strategies to access different markets, both centralized and decentralized.

It is also understood that Harrison has been seeking a fundraising target as high as $10 million for a $100 million valuation.

In a Jan. 14 tweet responding to Harrison’s lengthy thread on Sam Bankman-Fried and his time at FTX US, Scaramucci said he was “proud” to be an investor in Harrison’s new company.

Harrison replied to the tweet thanking Scaramucci, adding that “Your support and advice means the world to me. I can’t wait to work together!”

The amount of capital deployed and stake received by Scaramucci was not disclosed, however.

Harrison’s new crypto venture was first hinted at on Sept. 27, when he announced thahe was stepping down from his role as president of FTX US.

At the time, he said he was resigning his position as president but will remain with the exchange in an advisory role for the next few months.

“I can’t wait to share more about what I’m doing next,” he said at the time.

In his most recent Twitter thread, Harrison revealed that he left the firm after his relationship with Bankman-Fried abruptly deteriorated and that the troubles led him to shift his “focus to the future and to my own company.”

Related: Skybridge eyes stake buyback from FTX, as Galaxy CEO says he would like to ‘punch’ SBF

Meanwhile, Scaramucci continues to have high hopes for crypto market recovery this year, describing 2023’s market outlook as a “recovery year.”

In an interview with CNBC on Jan. 15, the crypto investor said he expects Bitcoin (BTC) to rebound to the $50,000-100,000 range within the next two to three years.

“You are taking on risk but you’re also believing in [Bitcoin] adoption. So if we get the adoption right, and I believe we will, this could easily be a fifty to one hundred thousand dollar asset over the next two to three years,” he added.

At time of publication, Bitcoin was currently trading at $21,240, up 21.77% over the last week.

NFTs have a brighter future on Instagram than on Twitter

While Twitter users may be more crypto-native, that doesn’t mean they’re going to win in the NFT arena.

The nonfungible token (NFT) industry has experienced some market turbulence over the past few months, but this hasn’t stopped both Twitter and Instagram from making moves into an industry that some estimate could be worth $231 billion by 2030. 

This comes off the back of Twitter having recently announced NFT Tweet Tiles and Instagram releasing an array of different NFT-related tools, and many NFT enthusiasts are naturally starting to deliberate which one will come out on top as the go-to social media platform for NFTs.

Going by their unique value proposition and recent events, it is evident that Instagram currently has more in its favor than Twitter when it comes to NFT integration.

The value of integrating on Instagram

One of the key determining factors for upholding Instagram as having more NFT potential than Twitter is its unique value proposition.

When looking at Twitter’s core offering, most would agree that it is a microblogging platform where users can share short messages (tweets) of up to 280 characters and is primarily used for sharing news, opinions and thoughts with a wider audience.

Instagram, on the other hand, can be characterized as a visual social media platform that is mainly used for sharing photos and videos and is more focused on personal expression and creative self-presentation.

Related: Crypto fans should get behind Elon Musk’s subscription model for Twitter

Given how NFTs are highly visual in nature, Instagram’s value offering already makes it much more suitable for NFT integration, as its user experience and interface are much more immersive and slick when it comes to visuals than Twitter, which is primarily designed for rapid information retention instead.

Another important element to consider is the audience base.

Whilst both have strong Millennial and Generation Z user bases, Instagram not only has a much larger user base at 1.3 billion (compared to Twitter’s 365 million), but its engagement rate is much higher than what is seen on Twitter, with Instagram boasting much higher engagement in most areas (including art). As a result, Instagram has a much more established footprint when it comes to brand marketing, and although much of the current NFT focus is on community art and trading, the most compelling (and potentially lucrative) NFT use case is within the fashion and lifestyle industry, which can use Instagram’s gallery-esque user interface and diverse sharing utilities to effectively carry out NFT integration and marketing initiatives.

But this is not to say that Instagram outshines Twitter in all aspects.

What Twitter has going for it is that its user base is more crypto-native and, therefore, more familiar with the technological and financial benefits found within NFTs. This means that there are already enthusiasts on Twitter who are ready to engage with its NFT offerings.

However, given how mass adoption is the end goal for NFTs, it is important to note that a more suitable product for integration is more important for long-term growth than the aforementioned, and thus, what Twitter currently has going for it doesn’t outweigh Instagram’s unique value proposition (UVP), which revolves around photo and video sharing first and foremost.

Twitter’s evolution under Elon Musk

Another strong indicator that NFTs have a brighter future on Instagram is the current trajectory of Twitter’s management and product.

With Twitter having recently come under the ownership and leadership of Elon Musk, there have been worrying developments that may further impact the suitability of the social media platform for being a go-to hub for NFTs.

This stems from Musk having made a cardinal sin by firing close to 50% of its workforce, which, although some might argue may have some merit in certain areas, has also led to some concern with regard to the lack of copyright oversight, questionable accounts being reinstated, and concerns regarding a lack of technical talent for further development growth.

Weekly NFT sales volume from Nov. 2021 through Jan. 2023. Source: Nansen

When it comes to lack of copyright oversight, Twitter has experienced serious copyright breaches as a result of its faulty copyright strike system, resulting in users having the ability to do things such as uploading full-length movies onto the platform. The impact of lax copyright infringement protocols on NFTs needs no explanation.

The recent cuts have also included content moderators whose job it was to curb misinformation, and unsurprisingly, there has since been a noticeable increase of the latter, while highly divisive accounts have also been reinstated en masse. This, in turn, has resulted in many users leaving the platform for alternatives, such as Mastodon, and seeing how NFTs rely upon strong and inclusive communities, Twitter’s new divisive environment does not bode well for its NFT plans.

Related: Facebook is on a quest to destroy the metaverse and web

In terms of concerns regarding Twitter’s tech functionality, while it is true that having fewer engineers may lead to a downturn in many products, due to Twitter not being a mission-critical product, Twitter currently allows for enough uptime, latency and architectural leeway that any faults will not cause it to stop functioning. However, keeping the ship floating is simply not going to cut it when it comes to opening up new markets and new possibilities, and therefore, Twitter’s massive cuts will undoubtedly hinder the execution of technical innovations, including seamless NFT integration.

So, while Twitter is undergoing a lot of chaos, Instagram has released a comprehensive NFT roadmap, which includes rolling out NFT integration in over 100 countries and the launch of an NFT marketplace, which is being trialed in a systematic manner with notable creators, such as Amber Vittoria, Dave Krugman, Refik Anadol and others.

Although it is impossible to know which social media will come out on top for NFT integration, looking at their core value propositions, combined with recent indicators, allows one to have a solid sense of where things are headed.

It is clear that Twitter is not only at a disadvantage from a UVP standpoint but is also suffering from a chaotic transition, which may have severe implications for the future health of the platform as a whole — let alone for the development of NFT utilities.

In other words, Instagram has a lot fewer distractions to deal with, and whilst it, too, will no doubt experience its own shortcomings, the platform’s NFT plans appear to be operating in the same structured and patient manner that allowed Facebook to come out on top over early competitors.

But as is the case in any technological pursuit, things can change in an instant, so it is worth following the development of both closely. But it is Instagram, not Twitter, that currently has more in its favor for NFT integration.

Constantin Kogan is a co-founder of BullPerks and GamesPad, a partner at BitBull Capital, the founder of Adwivo, and a former managing director at Wave Financial. He’s an entrepreneur, meta-connector, influencer, blockchain technology enthusiast, digital asset investor, and a top thought leader in hedge funds, IT startups, venture capital, healthcare, agriculture, real estate and media/entertainment. Constantin holds a Ph.D. in sociology, and a master’s in education and is fluent in five languages.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.