The circus surrounding the ultimate downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried, which performed out on TV and in Washington, D.C., all week, overshadowed one other essential growth within the crypto world—a rising disillusionment with Twitter’s new proprietor. In a collection of tweets, key figures on so-called Crypto Twitter expressed displeasure with Elon Musk’s dealing with of the platform that’s central to the business’s information and id.
The response is notable since information of Musk’s buy of the platform was hailed by many among the many crypto crowd, which has a robust libertarian bent, as a welcome growth. Many cheered his arrival, believing he would depart the platform alone whereas curbing a number of the excesses of the woke left. It hasn’t labored out that means: In his brief tenure as Twitter’s steward, Musk has embraced the entire worst impulses of the earlier regime—and extra.
As a substitute of restoring political neutrality to the platform as he promised, Musk has used it for the dumbest form of tradition antics—selling lies and cruelty and silencing anybody who disagrees with him. In the meantime, he has didn’t ship promised technical fixes comparable to decreasing bots, and presided over the breakdown of key options.
Much more, Musk’s newest dictatorial habits—which incorporates kicking journalists and competitor Mastodon off Twitter—has some influential crypto figures talking out. Peter McCormack, the favored host of What Bitcoin Did and who’s nobody’s concept of a lefty, complained Musk’s marketing campaign in opposition to “wokeness” had gone too far, writing: “Sure, variety and inclusion is difficult, however this doesn’t imply we shouldn’t bear in mind and in opposition to prejudice.”
Neeraj Agrawal, the communications director of Coin Heart whose memes and insights have made him a well-liked determine throughout crypto, noticed: “Who is aware of? Possibly Elon may have efficiently turned Twitter right into a paid platform, however he ruined his possibilities by making all of it in regards to the tradition battle. This place is finished for”—incomes a nod of settlement from influential right-leaning reporter Frank Chaparro.
All of this may occasionally look like simply one other micro-drama of the kind that Twitter customers have delighted in for years. However this time feels totally different. What Musk is doing is destroying crucial media platform on the earth for no higher motive than proudly owning the libs. This destruction is barely accelerating in mild of his newest resolution to purge his critics, together with distinguished journalists, which is able to lead others—together with me—to really feel they haven’t any selection however depart as properly. A once-vibrant supply of debate and knowledge is rapidly on its method to turning into a abandoned, bot-ridden clown present.
This can be a unhappy growth for Crypto Twitter, which has for a decade used the platform to make pals, share concepts, and in lots of circumstances outdo the mainstream media on the subject of reporting essential tales. If you’d like a silver lining, many crypto figures are already predicting that Musk’s resolution to wreck Twitter will solely speed up the creation of a decentralized Web3 various. Fingers crossed they’re proper.
Jeff John Roberts
[email protected]
@jeffjohnroberts
Startup Aztec Community raised $100 million in a Sequence B spherical led by a16z to construct a Web3 “privateness layer” that entails letting customers encrypt particular person actions on Ethereum. (TechCrunch)
New York’s highly effective monetary companies regulator NYDFS issued new guidelines for banks that need to transfer into crypto. (WSJ)
The incoming GOP chair of the Monetary Providers Committee requested the Treasury Secretary to delay reporting guidelines imposed on crypto firms as a part of final summer season’s infrastructure legislation. (CoinDesk)
Embattled Singapore-based Amber Group raised $300 million at a decrease valuation with the intention to pay clients after it misplaced 10% of its buying and selling capital on FTX. (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump dissatisfied his followers by revealing his “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT” as a scheme to promote $99 NFTs depicting him as a superhero. (Decrypt)
Even Jan. 6 coup plotters are bummed out by Trump’s NFTs:
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