Twitter’s NFT Profile Picture Verification Feature: Big Win For Crypto?

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• Twitter has launched the widely anticipated NFT verification feature for users.
• The feature has been limited to a section of users based on verification and the type of device being used.
• This feature forms part of the range of cryptocurrency integrations that the company has unveiled over the last 12 months.

Twitter wants to allow NFT holders to proudly showcase their holdings to the general public. This development has been in development since the last quarter of 2021.

NFTs Just Went Mainstream

On January 20, Twitter announced the launch of the feature that will allow users of the platform to use NFTs as their profile picture. Aside from the usage as display pictures, the feature will allow other users to be able to verify the originality of the NFT including its creator, provenance, and other necessary details.

The feature is only available to Twitter Blue subscribers, the subscription service that is designed to give Twitter users greater customization options on how they utilize the microblogging site. Apart from being limited to Twitter Blue subscribers, the new NFT feature can only be accessed via IOS devices but the company says that support for android and web users will be launched in the coming months.

The need for the development of an NFT verification feature came on the heels of the soaring popularity of NFTs last year with several collections capturing the attention of thousands. Several Twitter users used NFTs as their display pictures but there was no means to verify true ownership of these tokens via the platforms as “right clickers” ran riot.

“Twitter is where people go to talk about things that they care about, and often where people have their first experience with crypto and NFTs,” the company told TechCrunch. “We’re now seeing people use NFTs as a form of identity and self-expression, and as a way to join the thriving community and increasingly active conversation on Twitter.”

At launch, Twitter’s latest feature will support Coinbase Wallet, Metamask, Trust Wallet, and Argent. Users of the platform will simply click on the photo to get pertinent details of the NFT irrespective of whether they are Twitter Blue subscribers or IOS users.

Twitter’s Cryptocurrency’s Drive

Twitter has been at the forefront of championing the adoption of cryptocurrency. Last year, the company introduced a Bitcoin tipping service for creators by leveraging the Lightning Network. The company went on to launch a cryptocurrency team with Tess Rinearson as the head “to push the boundaries”.

“As I build out the team, we’ll be working to figure out what crypto can do for Twitter as well as what Twitter can do for crypto. Twitter truly gets crypto (hello Bitcoin Tipping & NFTs!) But there’s so much more to explore here,” said Rinearson on her appointment.

With crypto payments and NFT verification under the belt, analysts are confident that Twitter will wade deeper into the crypto space with a slew of new offerings. The company’s crypto embrace is tied intricately with its founder’s “obsession” with Bitcoin. Jack Dorsey reportedly stepped down from his role as CEO to focus on Bitcoin with Block and has famously referred to the Bitcoin whitepaper as the “most seminal works of computer science in the last 20 or 30 years.”