In an interview, Twitter’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Ned Segal stated that crypto investing is ‘not a good idea right now’ because of extreme market volatility and industry accounting rules. Segal pointed out that Twitter would need to alter its investment policies in order to invest in crypto companies or related avenues. Currently, Segal’s current investment policies allow the company to only hold assets that are more stable, such as securities, on its balance sheet.
Segal, according to a Wall Street Journal report , points to a common concern over crypto’s volatility among finance heads at Tweet. He claims price swings are one of the main reasons that the company doesn’t use crypto to fund their corporate investments.
Numerous finance departments from multiple companies based in the US have raised the question of whether there should be specific accounting regulations or systems for cryptocurrency assets. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), a private standard-setting organization that creates and issues financial accounting standards within the US, has been approached by industry giants to establish the ground rules for how crypto assets should be treated.
Twitter’s CFO appears reluctant to invest in cryptocurrency, but Twitter CEO and cofounder Jack Dorsey enthusiastically embraces the world of digital assets. Dorsey’s first tweet, which was the first ever to be posted on Twitter, was converted into an FFT in March. These were sold through Valuables, a marketplace that was worth $2.9 million (roughly Rs. 21.5 crore) to Bridge Oracle CEO Sina Estavi. Dorsey is a self-proclaimed “Bitcoin maximalist” and has also experimented with NFTs.
Although Twitter is not investing directly in crypto, it announced that it had set up a Blockchain team headed by Tess Rinearson, a seasoned blockchain engineer to ‘explore how to incorporate decentralized technology into our products or infrastructure’. The team’s first priority will be to create decentralised apps (dApps), which allow creators to manage virtual currencies and virtual goods. It will also provide ways for fans to support the community. Rinearson suggested that her team would then look into crypto tech to enhance identity, community and ownership on Twitter.
Twitter introduced a way to tip creators using Bitcoin via Lightning network. They also suggested that they are experimenting with ways to verify non-financial transfers to be used as profile photos.
