Twitter users, along with the enthusiastic crypto community, may soon be in for a very different version of the social media app – which is set to ditch its iconic blue bird logo for an “X” as part of a major rebranding.
However, Crypto Twitter was not particularly enthusiastic about some of the changes.
In a series of tweets on July 23, Musk hinted that the platform would be renamed “X” as early as Monday, the first step in its eventual transformation to the “everything” application.
The rebranding could include changing Twitter’s color scheme to black, removing Twitter’s blue bird logo and changing the name to X, according to Musk’s various tweets and research.
And soon we will say goodbye to the twitter brand and gradually to all the birds
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2023
The website used to access the social media platform may also change, with Musk confirming that X.com, the online address of his financial services start-up founded in 1999 and sold to PayPal, is now redirecting to Twitter.
According to the Wayback Machine, before the change, x.com was mostly a blank web page that simply displayed the letter “x”. It was previously redirected to the website of the Moscow Boring Company. The URL also had a long time in the early 2000s pointing to PayPal, and even had an eBay business page display.
Musk also in March founded a technical company X Corp. as Twitter’s parent company to partially realize its vision for a WeChat-like app.
Crypto Twitter calls rebranding decision ‘crazy’
However, few Crypto Twitter users were not enthusiastic about the proposed changes. Twitter was a stronghold for the crypto community with over 1 billion tweets about crypto between 2020 and 2022 according to March Hypebeast yearexport.
Trust Machines Head of Marketing Dan Held he said Twitter was “iconic” and added that Musk was “crazy” to change the name to X.
Others were resistant to the proposed X brand change. Crypto blogger Tiffany Fong she said she “still calls it twitter,” which hosts the podcast Peter McCormack agree with.
I stand with you Tiffany
— Peter McCormack☠️ (@PeterMcCormack) July 23, 2023
However, some have supported the idea that the super-app has been Musk’s vision since he left PayPal, pointing to Musk’s October. tweet who implicitly said his Twitter purchase was the catalyst for X’s creation.
Others presented their own ideas for how Musk should move forward with X. Axie Infinity co-founder Jeff “Jiho” Zirlin said he would keep the Twitter name but add a cryptocurrency wallet called X that would allow users to spend and tip the platform’s creators.
/Imagine
Leave it with the name twitter. Add a wallet called X. Let people spend and tip. Keep the earnings of new creators within the Twitter community as a circular economy.
Add bitcoin and eth transfers to wallet.
Mass adoption. pic.twitter.com/4lcxlPnW15
— The Jiho.eth (@Jihoz_Axie) July 23, 2023
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Meanwhile, in a post on July 23, Twitter chief Linda Yaccarino added more clues about the X, saying it will have “unlimited interactivity,” support for multiple media formats, and payment and banking functionality — a feature that Musk reportedly said wants to support cryptocurrencies.
Without elaborating, Yaccarino said the upcoming app will also be powered by artificial intelligence, although Musk has previously said AI will be used to detect manipulation of public opinion.
X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – focused on audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services and opportunities. Thanks to AI, X will connect us in ways we are only beginning to imagine.
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayacc) July 23, 2023
The renaming comes as Musk admitted on July 15 that Twitter’s ad revenue had fallen by 50% and the firm was heavily in debt, although it is not known over what time frame the revenue decline occurred.
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