Crypto Twitter: Social Currency for Digital Currency
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Crypto Twitter: Social Currency for Digital Currency By Anastasia Breeze Ditto PR, August 2019 In a world dominated by social media, in-person interaction has gone by the wayside. Reality is virtual, machines are automated, communication is social, and in the last few years alone, money has become digital. There are strong parallels between peer-to-peer communication and decentralized finance (DeFi) – both remove the middle man. Those who are active in the cryptocurrency space have established Twitter as their decentralized medium for exchanging news, insight and commentary. Distributed networks, crypto and Twitter have proven to work hand in hand. While crypto fosters a network without a governing body, Crypto Twitter serves as a third party communication supplement to its “ungoverned” users. Twitter’s accessible, free, uncensored platform can compensate for global scalability obstacles, ultimately lowering barriers and increasing education around and enthusiasm for tokenized currency. A decade since the creation of Bitcoin, the DeFi industry has developed a need to streamline effective communication about crypto and all its moving parts to the public — and Twitter has proven the gold (or should we stay Bitcoin?) standard. Over the past several years, the crypto space has established a strong, influential community on Twitter. Users exchange news, knowledge and commentary as social currency, increasing awareness and discussion of all industry insights. The multi-way communication that Twitter facilitates is invaluable in propelling social collaboration and interaction, which are key to increasing innovation and education in the crypto space. 1 Introduction to the Crypto Twitter Landscape The lay of the decentralized finance and social media land Crypto Twitter (#CT) is a unique community and a world of its own inside the greater Twitterverse. Back during crypto’s bull run of 2017, followers flocked to Twitter users with profound predictions and seemingly groundbreaking insight. In a market characterized by euphoric highs and miserable lows — often in the same day — Crypto Twitter was the only place where crypto enthusiasts of all backgrounds and persuasions could engage in real-time communication that matched the speed of the market, no matter where in the world they were located. Since the development of Twitter in 2006, and the creation of Bitcoin three years later, the past decade has proven that Crypto Twitter is crypto’s designated platform, spreading ideas among a growing community faster than you can say “Bitcoin to the Moon!” CT breaks off from regular Twitter into its own community and distinguishes itself in a few different ways. While fire and facial emojis are go-to additions to a #CT tweet, the rocket emoji has been closely associated with Bitcoin and its potential to “skyrocket.” Meanwhile, the dollar sign has adopted the same function on Twitter as a hashtag, offering a shorthand link to publicly-traded companies such as crypto coins and projects. Crypto Twitter Is the Party of the Future Come one, come all. This is your invitation, and you don’t want to miss it. Whether allowing users to share breaking crypto news or exchange commentary on a market price update, CT perpetuates and amplifies the level of empowerment in crypto’s peer-to-peer network. Developers, journalists, lawyers, economists, philosophers and traders bring their varying perspectives and experiences. There’s even a place for armchair philosophers who lack a crypto background but still want 2 to play a role in this exciting, innovative period. This is also demonstrated as “fear of missing out,” or FOMO, which describes the sense of urgency to not only follow CT, but effectively engage in the constant motion and commotion of crypto news updates. Paralleled with the fast-paced crypto market, Twitter is the perfect platform for instant communication between hundreds of thousands of users every day. The frequency of new projects being announced on a daily basis strengthens the momentum of global industry adoption, now and in the future — strengthening claims that the crypto industry is determining the future. The graph below illustrates a sample of the positive correlation between crypto prices and people’s presence on Twitter. Users take to Twitter — often emotionally — based on what they see in the market. CT Influencers: Telling Us What’s Important (and Not) It’s all about digging through the details CT gives users a space to assert their opinions on philosophical, economic or technological issues in crypto. Be it an influx of excitement or widespread rage, constant high engagement often leads the conversation on CT to escalate and ultimately become noise. The dramatic and frantic sentiment of a frenzied CT relies on influencers to cut through the digital drama. A so-called “CT influencer” leverages their established credibility and large social media following to surface high-level insights, opinions and promotions to their audiences. These high-profile individuals 3 distinguish the most important and valuable news to them, and ultimately determine what the general public community should also prioritize interest in. At the same time, influencers can drive interest away from topics or projects. Sensitivity to crypto shills and comments that spread so-called “fear, uncertainty and doubt” (FUD) also plays a role in influencer reputation. CT influencers who constantly take a strong positive or negative stance on a single coin are more likely to stimulate suspicion among followers. Influencing the CT Space The real deal by real people Compared to visual and broadcast advertisements, insights from real people have proven much more effective in building successful brand awareness and credibility. With a large follower base and the potential to reach non-followers, CT influencers can serve as an alternative marketing option for companies in the crypto space. These influencers promote the projects, coins and leaders they value, persuading followers to get on board and adopt the same values. These individuals leverage reputations, join forces with other reputable figures and are heard by the public. As the tastemakers of crypto, influencers engage with all the booms and dooms of the space in order to convey to followers what’s hot and what’s not. Top CT Influencers Overview Meet the Faces of the Space 4 Top 10 Influencers on Crypto Twitter Who’s who? . 5 6 It Takes a (Decentralized) Village Coins and chains and creators, oh my! Falling on a spectrum of founders, investors, developers and media professionals, the top-ranking CT influencers each contribute a unique perspective to parallel the diverse backgrounds and journeys of people entering and immersed in the crypto space. CT influencers reflect the inclusivity of the community, as each sector of the industry plays a role, thus giving every member a voice. The variety of stances, rapid pace of innovation and constant engagement on CT reinforces its intent to empower the individual, amplifying the industry’s foundation of a peer-to-peer network. In order to appreciate each sector’s contributions, the first step is to identify where the space’s top influencers are. 7 Blockchain Technology and Development As the foundation to cryptocurrency, blockchain technology is how projects distinguish themselves as being the safest, the fastest, the easiest, the “best.” Andreas Antonopoulos is an open blockchain expert, Joel Comm identifies as a blockchain evangelist and Vitalik Buterin invented one of the first and most widely used blockchains out there: Ethereum. Blockchain technology has presented society with a revolutionary way of achieving security and permanence without a governing body. It is now up to public figures, such as influencers, to curb crypto controversies and communicate its credibility to the public. Finance Crypto’s peer-to-peer network deviates from traditional centralized finance, as it eliminates third party financial actors such as governments and banks. Some CT influencers use their professional financial backgrounds to build credibility around the new possibilities that crypto offers, as well as take a position in coins and evangelize them to the public. They sometimes act as oracles to highlight to users what top crypto projects they support, and therefore what the public should be interested in and attentive to. As figures who are so highly regarded in the financial industry, CT influencers from traditional finance who advocate for crypto serve a critical role in combating global speculation and spearheading widespread adoption of DeFi. Institutional Crypto At the same time that DeFi threatens to put the big banking bodies and other financial institutions out of business, some of those same institutions have ironically managed to embrace the DeFi space. Some hedge and venture capital funds have evolved and branched out to build their own “crypto funds.” Some traditional institutions have delved into the space, diversifying their portfolios by investing in crypto projects. This integration is increasing crypto’s visibility among investors and outsiders alike. Marc Andreessen’s venture fund, a16z crypto, of which Chris Dixon is a general partner, has invested in multiple crypto projects and protocols (including Ditto client Anchorage!). Meanwhile, Chengpeng Zhao created Binance — the largest exchange in the world that has recently begun serving institutional clients. Coins Half of the top 10 CT influencers are associated with coins. Every founder either established