Social Media Giant Twitter Launches New Crypto Team to Integrate Blockchain to Platform

Tech titan Twitter plans to launch a new branch focused specifically on blockchain and crypto.

The new division will be called “Twitter Crypto” and will focus on “all things blockchain” according to Tess Rinearson, who has been slated to lead the project.

In a thread, Rinearson says that one of the first priorities of the new division will be exploring how to support creators in using decentralized apps (DApps) to manage virtual goods and currencies, and to support their work and communities. She also says the branch will work in collaboration with Bluesky, Twitter’s efforts at a decentralized social media platform.

“And, of course, we’ll be working closely with the Bluesky team to help shape the future of decentralized social media (and to make sure that Twitter stays on the cutting edge of this new landscape, too!).

Twitter Crypto will underpin all of this work, and serve as a 'center of excellence for all things blockchain at Twitter. We’ll be hiring for roles in engineering and product. If this sounds exciting, please get in touch!”

That Twitter would launch such a division may not be a big surprise given CEO Jack Dorsey’s pro-crypto history. Dorsey is an owner and founder of payments giant Square, which has the fifth biggest public corporate treasury of Bitcoin, and records billions in profit from Bitcoin-based transactions. He even testified to Congress with a Bitcoin clock in the background.

Dorsey’s Twitter also announced in September that it was enabling its users to be tipped in BTC, and has also hinted it would be integrating more crypto payment features in the future like “Ticketed Spaces.”

Dorsey also has his eye on the Bitcoin mining industry. Last month, Dorsey announced in a tweet that Square was exploring a new Bitcoin mining system, saying that BTC mining wasn't accessible enough to the average person.

"Mining isn’t accessible to everyone. Bitcoin mining should be as easy as plugging a rig into a power source. There isn’t enough incentive today for individuals to overcome the complexity of running a miner for themselves."