How Bitcoin Can Fight Twitter Spam

During the 90’s and the days of America Online, most of us could only conceptualize the Internet as a place to send emails and view text, images, and video. Few could have predicted a world where smartphones and apps could upend systems like the entire taxi industry.

Similar hidden variables could be said about Bitcoin. While more folks view Bitcoin as “digital gold,” it can be much more than that. One example could be… Twitter’s new anti-spam system?

It’s plausible. The Twitter platform still houses millions of spambot accounts. Most of them are copycats of celebrity profiles that copy/paste the profile picture and slightly deviate the username (think @elonmusk vs. @elonnmusk). These bot accounts then post in the reply threads with crypto-scam-related links, attempting to get a dubious click out of an unsuspecting user.

Twitter could require users to deposit a certain amount of sats into their accounts (say .000025 BTC or $10) to receive an “orange check.” Without an orange check, profiles could not comment or post tweets on the platform. Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor touches on this solution:

There are two reasons why I think this is a great idea. First,  this anti-spam measure could be implemented by anyone on the planet. While we in the United States have the privilege of accessing the US Dollar banking system, there are many people in developing countries that do not. Using an open and global monetary network would allow anyone on Earth with an internet connection to acquire an orange check and still participate in the world’s most influential social network.

The second is privacy. If the anti-spam measure only had the option to accept nation-state currencies, it would require users to give away their actual identities via their banking information. While Bitcoin can still be traced, small transactions can still be more private than traditional transactions. I say this not for some troll to continue posting crude memes anonymously but for activists to call out human rights violations within authoritarian countries.

The obvious downside is that users would have to pay to use Twitter. Twitter already offers a paid subscription with "Twitter Blue", which offers the ability to edit tweets along with a number of other premium features. This orange check would be a one-time payment. The removal of ads from the platform could also be an incentive.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. Elon Musk has recently purchased Twitter and has promised to eliminate the spambot problem. Whether Bitcoin is a part of his toolkit remains to be seen, but the option is certainly there.

This article, along with all content and opinions from BTC Examiner, is for educational purposes only and is not financial advice. Please reach out to your financial advisor before making any investment.