Elon Musk Proposes DOGE as Payment Mode for Twitter Blue Services

Musk has proposed that each Twitter Blue user must get an authentication checkmark to distinguish them from bots.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 11 April 2022 14:03 IST

Elon Musk Proposes DOGE as Payment Mode for Twitter Blue Services

Photo Credit: Reuters

Elon Musk purchased a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter last week

Highlights

Elon Musk may tweak service charges or payment modes for Twitter Blue
Elon Musk may add verification check for Twitter Blue users
DOGE, as per Musk, is a good altcoin for day-to-day uses

Elon Musk has pitched his favourite cryptocurrency, the Dogecoin, as a payment option for users seeking to avail Twitter Blue services. Musk was replying to a Twitter user from Argentina, who said Twitter Blue's current subscription of $3 (roughly Rs. 230) is as high as the cost of feeding a family in Argentina. The development comes just days after the Tesla CEO purchased a 9.2 percent stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder in the company.

Launched in June last year, Twitter Blue is a monthly service currently available in the US, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. As part of this service, Twitter allows subscribers to get rid of advertisements on their timelines, edit tweets within a 20-second time frame, and undo a tweet altogether among other premium features.

Musk has been polling his 81.3 million followers on updates they wish to see on Twitter. As part one such discussions, Musk tweeted that everybody who pays for special services offered by Twitter Blue must get an authentication checkmark, different from “public figure” and “official account” checkmarks to side-line bots.

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On the same thread, the SpaceX CEO said Twitter Blue fees should be proportionate to affordability in local currency — proposing DOGE as an option.

Maybe even an option to pay in Doge?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 10, 2022

Musk touted Dogecoin as “the people's crypto” in the past, citing a survey that claimed nearly 33 percent of cryptocurrency owners in the US own DOGE assets.

The tech mogul believes that DOGE makes for a solid choice for paying for goods and services using cryptocurrencies.

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Scoring big on the affordability meter, each DOGE token is priced $0.15 (roughly Rs. 11) as per Gadgets 360's crypto price tracker, which makes it more buyable and usable for small investors.

“Even though it was created as a silly joke, Dogecoin is better suited for transactions. The total transaction flow that you do with Dogecoin, like transactions per day, has much higher potential than Bitcoin,” Musk had said in December 2021.

For now, it remains unclear if DOGE will become a payment option for Twitter Blue services or not.

Meanwhile, Musk has decided not to join Twitter's board of directors, despite being its largest stakeholder.

"I believe this is for the best. We have and will always value input from our shareholders whether they are on our Board or not. Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input," Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said.

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Further reading: Elon Musk, Dogecoin, Doge, Twitter, Twitter Blue, cryptocurrency

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More