Twitter brings NFTs to the timeline as hexagon-shaped profile pictures

Twitter said in September that it would add a way for users to authenticate non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and now the feature is live — if you pay for a $2.99 ​​Twitter Blue subscription and use an iOS device.

Image: Twitter

On the one hand, NFT profile pictures can be seen as an incredible technology integration that provides real utility for verified digital objects. Alternatively, it’s an unavoidable signal pointing out to people that you should block or mute them before they try to sell you some of their blockchain receipts.

Whatever your opinion of simply reproduced digital trinkets, Twitter integrates them in a way that distinguishes ridiculous images of cartoon monkeys that have been right-clicked for use as default profile pictures from ridiculous images of cartoon monkeys linked to blockchain tokens. by adding a special “soft hexagon” shape around them.

At launch, Twitter supports multiple crypto wallets that users can link to their profiles and verify that their tokens are of the non-fungible variety.

• Argent
• Coinbase wallet
• Ledger Live
• MetaMask
• Rainbow
• Trust Wallet

However, a side effect of limiting interaction with the blockchain to a list of approved sources means that information about who owns what is not as decentralized as you might think. As researcher Jane Manchun Wong noted earlier Thursdaya database breach that knocked the OpenSea API offline for a few hours caused Twitter’s NFT collection pages to lose their information as well.

Despite Twitter’s list of wallets, there are people who believe it doesn’t do enough to verify the origin of NFTs. As Adam Hollander points out, Twitter’s layout and hexagon logo only checks to see if there’s an NFT connected to the user’s wallet—it doesn’t check or tell viewers if that NFT is verified to belong to a high-profile collection (like the Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example). You can go through the same right-click save exercise mentioned above, create the image as a new NFT, and on your profile page it will look identical to a person who has ownership of the verified image.

The only way someone can tell if your NFTs are actually from the collection they appear to be is to click on your profile picture and check the details. Otherwise, a fake BAYC token (like this one) looks at first glance just like the officially minted one (here). Twitter’s head of consumer product marketing Justin Taylor says this is intentional and that “We don’t want to limit this to just verified collections, that would be wrong and not supportive of the broader nft movement. Anyone SHOULD be able to stamp anything and do it to its nft.”

This FAQ explains the process (while trying to ensure that NFT owners avoid clicking on a phishing link instead of Twitter’s official one, which is an all-too-frequent vector for NFT theft), and answers the question of what happens if you sell NFT- one that is in your picture. As it turns out, Twitter will continue to display the image, regardless of what the blockchain has to say about who owns it, but it will revert to a common circle frame instead of the special crypto-wallet-only hexagon shape.

If you see someone flashing one of these images and need to know more about their items, click on their hexagon profile picture. select ViewNFT details and find out information about “NFT owner, NFT description, collection, properties and additional details.”

Update January 21, 9:11 AMET: Added information about the confirmation, or lack thereof, for NFTs.

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