Twitter is different for crypto than it is for other areas of interest. To a certain extent, the discussion of the industry on Twitter isn't about the industry — it is the industry.
Why it matters: Twitter is (for now) indispensable to following blockchain technology. What might look to outsiders like idle badgering and joking, is in fact the process of people forming allegiances and making deals.
Zoom out: If you aren't on Twitter, it's a text-dominated platform that basically displays posts going from the most recent stuff back. It thrives on people liking, commenting and re-posting those text posts.
What they're saying: "Crypto is 24/7/365, and it needs a medium that matches that pace," Variant Fund's Spencer Noon tells Axios.
Zoom in: Sources prominent on Crypto Twitter mostly feel that Twitter has been a useful space for the crypto industry, but not without caveats. Several say it's key to staying abreast of what's hot right now.
How it works: "Twitter is kind of a 'Great Equalizer' of sorts, where broadcasting continues to be a good way for newcomers to build a brand," Archetype VC's Katherine Wu tells Axios.
The best use of Twitter depends on whether you're a trader, investor, content creator or founder, but lots of our sources pointed to Twitter's power as a place for discourse.
Yes, but: "Crypto Twitter" isn't really one thing. It's an amalgamation of lots of different groups (mostly defined by allegiances to tokens or coins) that mostly talk to each other but also bleed over, largely through the leading influencers who like to spar with each other in public.
Anyone who starts off in one sub-group of Twitter (maybe focusing on Ethereum or Bitcoin or trading or startups) will eventually be surprised by all the antagonism out there across groups.
Threat level: It can get to be a bit much. More brain buzz than actionable intel. "It's good servant, bad master," Demeester says.
Of note: Wu, who became well known for lite but informative lawyerly content, now says she prefers the industry's newer ecosystem of high quality newsletters. "I spend probably 20 or less mins per day just to scan my feed to make sure I'm not falling behind," she says.
Details: Here are a few great moments in CT.
Worth knowing: In 2020, cyber criminals got into Twitter's admin tools and used it to promote a bitcoin scam across many of CT's most famous accounts.
Be smart: It takes a while to get your bearings on CT. There are a lot of inside jokes and in group language that takes time to learn. As Carter put it, those obstacles serve as filters to make sure folks in the conversation know something about what they're discussing.
The bottom line: Don't let it be too intimidating though. If you don't get it, you're more likely to just be ignored than mocked. "My advice to people just getting started is simple: don’t hold back," Noon says.
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