Stock trading is coming to Twitter. And, reportedly, crypto trading.
Via a new partnership with eToro, users can now make use of eToro’s market charts on a range of financial investments, simply by searching for the relevant "cashtag," usually by putting a "$" sign in front of the ticker, like "$TSLA" for Tesla stock.
A chart then appears, reflecting the asset’s 24-hour price performance along with a link that says “View on eToro” where users can then view more in-depth market information and purchase the asset, along with other assets offered by the platform.
Despite reports that the integration would also include cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, the social media platform has yet to deliver.
Nothing appears when searching for a variety of crypto cashtags on the platform.
An eToro representative told Decrypt via email that they were "having the same issue" when searching the BTC cashtag. "We are checking this with Twitter so hopefully it will be resolved soon,” they said.
🎉Very excited to be launching a new $Cashtags partnership with @Twitter which will enable Twitter users to see real-time prices for a much wider range of stocks, crypto & other assets as well as having the option to invest through eToro. @elonmusk https://t.co/Iv2q9iNxbf
— eToro (@eToro) April 13, 2023
Twitter did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment.
Twitter and crypto: A Killer App?
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been an avowed fan of cryptocurrencies long before he acquired the social media platform.
His tweets pumping his favorite cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) helped it to reach its all-time high of $0.73 in May 2021. The cryptocurrency has also soared in the past hour, following the latest eToro tie-up.
At the beginning of last week, DOGE ballooned 20% in less than an hour after Musk changed the iconic blue bird logo on the social media site to a picture of Doge, the Shiba Inu behind the meme that inspired the coin.
In his capacity as Tesla CEO, he invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in February 2021. By the end of June last year, however, the company had sold about 75% of its war chest and is HODLing the remainder.
Since beginning his bid to buy out Twitter last spring, Musk has often hinted that he wants crypto and finance to be integrated into the platform.
While negotiating the takeover, Musk let slip that he saw the potential to turn Twitter into a kind of “super app," citing China’s WeChat as a potential influence.
“If you're in China, you kind of live on WeChat, it does everything," he said. "It's sort of like Twitter, plus PayPal, plus a whole bunch of other things. And all rolled into one [...] great interface. It's really an excellent app.”
Earlier this month, Musk changed Twitter’s corporate name to X Corp., after merging the company with an eponymous newly-formed shell company en route to creating “X”, the name for his envisioned “everything app.” He tweeted the letter on Tuesday.