Twitter today is introducing a new feature that will allow users to show off their NFTs, or non-fungible tokens — a way to certify digital assets stored on the blockchain. The company is rolling out NFT Profile Pictures to Twitter Blue subscribers on iOS by way of Twitter Blue’s early access Labs feature. Support for Twitter’s NFT product will later roll out to Android users and the web. However, while only iOS users will have the ability to set their NFT as their profile picture, everyone on Twitter will be able to see the new hexa-shaped picture no matter what platform they’re currently using, Twitter says.
The Twitter Blue subscription service is not yet globally available, which will limit the adoption of NFT Profile Pictures to the early markets where the offering is now live — the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The company had earlier hinted toward its plans to more fully embrace NFTs, which has become a big topic of conversation on the platform. Many crypto-enthusiasts have also already set their profile picture to a photo of their NFT, as Twitter had not yet offered any official means of authenticating with a user’s crypto wallet and verifying ownership.
In September, amid a sea of other updates, Twitter had offered a first look at its plans for NFTs. At the time, Twitter touted how authentication would allow creators to better showcase their work on Twitter and said it was exploring ideas that would allow them to showcase their collections.
“Twitter is where people go to talk about things they care about, and often where people have their first experience with crypto and NFTs,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch, in an emailed announcement. “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.”
https://twitter.com/TwitterBlue/status/1484226494708662273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1484226494708662273%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcrunch.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D2260238action%3Dedit
To use the feature as a Twitter Blue subscriber, you’ll simply go to your profile to change your profile photo as you would normally. Here, you’ll be presented with the new option to choose an NFT instead. You then connect with your crypto wallet.
At launch, Coinbase Wallet, Rainbow, MetaMask, Ledger Live, Argent, and Trust Wallet are supported. After authenticating, you’ll select the NFT you want to showcase. Twitter says that, currently, JPEG and PNG NFTs minted on the Ethereum (ERC-721 or ERC-1155 tokens) can be used as NFT Profile Pictures.
In a later update, Twitter said it was looking into adding support for SVGs, but can’t render them right now. Also, only on-chain NFTs are supported. If you lazy-minted on Opensea, for instance, those won’t be available to you for use as your Twitter NFT Profile Picture.
We 💙 on-chain NFTs! We can't render SVGs right now, but we're looking into it.
— Support (@Support) January 21, 2022
Once live, Twitter users who come across the NFT will be able to tap on the profile picture to learn more about the art, its collection, provenance, and more. For instance, you’ll be able to see if a project or collection has been verified by OpenSea or another third-party marketplace.
The rollout follows Twitter’s growing interest in incorporating decentralized technologies into its platform, which has included things like support for tips in Bitcoin and the recent hire of Tess Rinearson as its Crypto Engineering Lead. The company also last year experimented with minting its own NFTs, which it had offered for free.
The company hasn’t yet made a decision as to whether or not it will make the feature available at some later date to non-subscribers, but says it will monitor feedback from Twitter Blue users and make additional updates over time.
Note: A poorly timed OpenSea outage complicated the launch for Twitter, but was later resolved.
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