On January 10, TechCrunch pointed out that X (formerly Twitter) has stopped supporting non-fungible tokens (NFT) as a profile picture (PFP). The feature was introduced in January 2022 — before Elon Musk acquired the social network. Two years later, it was removed without any announcements from the company. Despite the billionaire being pretty good with crypto, this feature has been criticised by him since its introduction.
NFT profile pictures on Twitter: what was it
In January 2022, Twitter users who paid for a premium subscription got the ability to connect an Ethereum wallet to their account and put NFTs as their profile avatars. These were hexagonal instead of round in the profile header, and clicking on them revealed more information about NFTs.
This is how the details of general partner of A16Z Investment Fund Sriram Krishnan’s PFP looked before this feature was removed.
Going forward, the developers had plans to expand to other blockchains. The introduction of this feature was met positively among the crypto community. However, to the surprise of many, Elon Musk criticised the decision on the day of release. In his opinion, Twitter developers should have focused on fighting crypto spambots and scammers.
Later, in April 2022, Elon Musk bought Twitter, renamed it as X, and now he has removed the NFT PFPs.
Why has X removed the PFP feature and what’s next
According to TechCrunch, on January 10, 2024, the feature was removed from X without separate announcements, which is odd. After all, it had been part of the functionality that a paid subscription to X offered. Now, even the pages describing the feature have been removed and can only be viewed in archived versions.
It is worth remembering that on January 9, X issued a press release with big plans for 2024, which will be transformational for the company. But there is no mention of these changes to the X premium subscription.
Among other plans, which, according to Elon Musk's long-held vision, will turn X into the Everything App, there is the launch of "peer-to-peer payments". This has already found some resonance within the crypto community. Musk warned that X will not launch its own token, so be careful and do not fall for scams. So, most likely, it is about the ability to exchange real money, not cryptocurrency. The company has been going for this for a long time, obtaining the necessary licences from US regulators.
Crypto community reaction to NFT PFP removal from X
The community was perplexed by this decision as these PFPs could help distinguish the real NFT holder from someone who simply put up a copy of a picture from a famous collection.
Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell reacted negatively to the news. In his opinion, it is a "step back for the industry."
Powell admits that the feature was not widely used but that it had potential for the social platform’s development. It is noteworthy that Kraken co-founder did not use it himself, explaining that "it did not offer enough utility". So, perhaps, in time, we will see the return of functions from NFTs in X, but in an updated form.
NFTs, after a downturn in market interest, are still in demand among companies and governments. For example, China Daily newspaper planned to launch an NFT platform, while Lufthansa Airlines launched an NFT loyalty program on Polygon. Also, different brands are joining the hype: Casio, with the sale of NFT watches, or Adidas, with NFT sneakers. Moreover, countries like Italy, Mongolia, and India are planning to ease bureaucracy with NFTs.
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