Twitter is rolling out verified NFT profile pictures
Twitter on Thursday began rolling out a feature that will let some users set NFTs that they own as their profile picture to signal their investment in the emerging digital art space. The move makes Twitter one of the best-known tech platforms so far to launch a feature for the flashy NFT trend.
NFTs, or "nonfungible tokens," are one-of-a-kind, verifiable digital collectibles, often works of art, that can be traded on the blockchain, the technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. While not exactly new, NFTs have exploded into a lucrative industry over the past year, with digital art works selling for millions of dollars, and artists, celebrities and companies jumping on board to make and sell them.
NFTs such as characters from the popular "Bored Apes" collection have been popping up as people's avatars on Twitter in recent months. The new feature, which is only available to users who pay for Twitter's subscription service, will go a step further. It will verify someone's ownership of the NFT by linking the person's digital wallet where the NFTs are stored to their Twitter account.
The images will also look different on Twitter than typical profile pictures. The new NFT avatars will show up as a hexagon, instead of a circle, and users can click on them to get more information about the artwork, including its creator and where it's listed.
Twitter's announcement comes as social media companies scramble to stake out their place in the growing NFT space. Meta Platforms is reportedly considering launching a marketplace for NFTs on Facebook and Instagram, according to reports from the Information and the Financial Times.
It also marks Twitter's latest foray into "decentralized" technologies. In July, Twitter's founder and then-CEO, Jack Dorsey, said bitcoin would be a "big part" of the company's future. In September, the company introduced the ability for users to tip creators using bitcoin. Twitter also announced last year that it was building a crypto team to focus on cryptocurrencies, blockchain and related technologies.
The rollout of the new NFT profile pictures is fairly limited for now. The feature is available to Twitter Blue subscribers using the iOS app in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, although Twitter users on any platform will be able to see the new avatars.
RISKIN REPORTS
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Online diary: Buffalo gunman plotted attack for months
The white gunman accused of massacring 10 Black people at a Buffalo supermarket wrote as far back as November about staging a livestreamed attack on African Americans, practiced shooting from his car and travelled hours from his home in March to scout out the store, according to detailed diary entries he appears to have posted online.
Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre denounces 'white replacement theory'
Pierre Poilievre is denouncing the 'white replacement theory' believed to be a motive for a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., as 'ugly and disgusting hate-mongering.'
Ontario driver who killed woman and three daughters sentenced to 17 years in prison
A driver who struck and killed a woman and her three young daughters nearly two years ago 'gambled with other people's lives' when he took the wheel, an Ontario judge said Monday in sentencing him to 17 years behind bars.
Half of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 still experiencing at least one symptom two years later: study
Half of those hospitalized with COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic are still experiencing at least one symptom two years later, a new study suggests.
What we know so far about the victims of the Buffalo mass shooting
A former police officer, the 86-year-old mother of Buffalo's former fire commissioner, and a grandmother who fed the needy for decades were among those killed in a racist attack by a gunman on Saturday in a Buffalo grocery store. Three people were also wounded.
Top 6 moments from the 2022 Ontario election debate
Ontario’s four main party leaders were relatively civil as they spared at Monday night’s televised election debate in Toronto.
Rising cost of living worries Canadians, defines Ontario election
The rising cost of living is worrying Canadians and defining the Ontario election as prices go up on everything from groceries to gas.
Documents show a pattern of human rights abuses against gender diverse prisoners
Facing daily instances of violence and abuse, gender diverse people in the Canadian prison system say they are forced to take measures into their own hands to secure their safety.
White 'replacement theory' fuels racist attacks
A racist ideology seeping from the internet's fringes into the mainstream is being investigated as a motivating factor in the supermarket shooting that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York. Most of the victims were Black.
Canada
-
Top 6 moments from the 2022 Ontario election debate
Ontario’s four main party leaders were relatively civil as they spared at Monday night’s televised election debate in Toronto.
-
Kenney visits Washington, pushing stronger energy ties between Alberta and U.S.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney begins his two-day blitz in Washington today, hoping to convince U.S. lawmakers his province is best positioned to strengthen North American energy security.
-
Ontario driver who killed woman and three daughters sentenced to 17 years in prison
A driver who struck and killed a woman and her three young daughters nearly two years ago 'gambled with other people's lives' when he took the wheel, an Ontario judge said Monday in sentencing him to 17 years behind bars.
-
'Absolutely disgusting': Team leader critical of RCMP mental health support after N.S. shooting
The RCMP's treatment of their tactical team in the days following the April 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia was characterized as "absolutely disgusting" Monday during testimony before the public inquiry examining the killings.
-
Documents show a pattern of human rights abuses against gender diverse prisoners
Facing daily instances of violence and abuse, gender diverse people in the Canadian prison system say they are forced to take measures into their own hands to secure their safety.
-
Canada Day celebrations moving from Parliament Hill
The Canada Day main stage will be at LeBreton Flats park just west of downtown Ottawa this year, not on Parliament Hill.
World
-
White 'replacement theory' fuels racist attacks
A racist ideology seeping from the internet's fringes into the mainstream is being investigated as a motivating factor in the supermarket shooting that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York. Most of the victims were Black.
-
'Copycat' mass shootings becoming deadlier, experts warn after Buffalo attack
An 18-year-old white man suspected of fatally shooting 10 people in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, appears to be the latest in a line of 'copycat' gunmen carrying out deadlier mass shootings inspired by previous attackers, experts warned.
-
Ukraine says mission at Mariupol steel mill is complete
The regiment that doggedly defended a steel mill as Ukraine's last stronghold in the port city of Mariupol completed its mission Monday after more than 260 fighters, including some badly wounded, were evacuated and taken to areas under Russia's control, Ukrainian officials said.
-
Europe accused of 'double-standard' on Ukrainian refugees
The quick acceptance of Ukrainians fleeing Russia's aggression puts a spotlight on Europe's 'double standard' for migrants, standing against its nonwelcome for people fleeing violence in Africa, the Mideast and elsewhere, the head of the world's largest humanitarian network said Monday.
-
North Korea reports another surge in fevers amid COVID crisis
North Korea on Tuesday reported another large jump in illnesses believed to be COVID-19 and encouraged good health habits as a mass outbreak spreads through its unvaccinated population and military officers were deployed to distribute medicine.
-
Officials confirm EF0 landspout tornado near Casselman, Ont.
Western University's Northern Tornadoes Project says a landspout tornado occurred east of Ottawa during Sunday's severe weather, making it the first confirmed tornado of the 2022 season.
Politics
-
Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre denounces 'white replacement theory'
Pierre Poilievre is denouncing the 'white replacement theory' believed to be a motive for a mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., as 'ugly and disgusting hate-mongering.'
-
Federal commitments still outstanding, nearly a year since first residential school burial site discovery
Almost a year since the first reported discovery of a burial site at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, the federal government provided an update on the promises it has made since to 'lift up the truth,' many of which are still a work in progress.
-
Canada prepared to send ships to Romanian ports to help export Ukraine's wheat: Joly
Canada is poised to send cargo ships to ports in Romania and neighbouring countries to help Ukraine get its wheat to Africa and the Middle East, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Monday.
Health
-
U.S. reaches deal to reopen shuttered baby formula plant
U.S. officials on Monday reached an agreement to allow baby formula maker Abbott to restart its largest domestic factory, though it will be two months or more before any new products ship from the site to help alleviate the national shortage facing parents.
-
First patient in Quebec gets approval from Health Canada for magic mushroom therapy
In Montreal, a pioneering clinic in the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is about to become the first health-care facility in Quebec to legally treat depression with psilocybin.
-
FDA announces it will make it easier to import some baby formulas to ease shortage
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Monday that it is making it easier to import certain infant formulas as it works to address a nationwide shortage.
Sci-Tech
-
Total lunar eclipse creates dazzling 'blood moon'
The moon glowed red on Sunday night and the early hours of Monday, after a total lunar eclipse that saw the sun, Earth and moon form a straight line in the night sky.
-
Whale shark study finds collisions with large vessels may be factor in population decline
A new study out of the United Kingdom is pointing to collisions with large marine vessels as a possible reason for the years-long decline in whale shark populations.
-
Musk hints at paying less for Twitter than his US$44B offer
Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave the strongest hint yet Monday that he would like to pay less for Twitter than his US$44 billion offer made last month.
Entertainment
-
Juno Awards celebrate Avril Lavigne, Deborah Cox and host Simu Liu's many talents
Sunday night's Juno Awards, hosted by 'Shang-Chi' star Simu Liu, honoured Canadian artists such as Avril Lavigne and Montreal singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin
-
Amber Heard says she feared she would not survive Johnny Depp marriage
'Aquaman' actor Amber Heard told jurors in a defamation case on Monday that she filed for divorce from Johnny Depp in 2016 because she worried she would not survive physical abuse by him.
-
Machine Gun Kelly dedicates Billboard Music Awards performance to his 'wife' and 'unborn child'
Was Machine Gun Kelly trying to tell us something? During his performance of the song 'Twin Flame' at Sunday's 2022 Billboard Music Awards, Kelly said 'I wrote this song for my wife.'
Business
-
De-Arching: McDonald's to sell Russia business, exit country
McDonald's is closing its doors in Russia, ending an era of optimism and increasing the country's isolation over its war in Ukraine.
-
Rising cost of living worries Canadians, defines Ontario election
The rising cost of living is worrying Canadians and defining the Ontario election as prices go up on everything from groceries to gas.
-
CREA reports home sales down in April as mortgage rates rise
Increasing mortgage rates slowed home sales in April from the frenzied pace they started the year at, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Monday.
Lifestyle
-
Quebec teen breaks national record for fastest Rubik's cube solve while blindfolded
A Quebec teen has broken a national record for the fastest time to solve a Rubik's cube while wearing a blindfold.
-
Ontario retiree buys 'cheapest home in the GTA'. This is what she got
A retiree in Ontario has just purchased what is being called the 'cheapest home in the GTA'—a caboose located on a commercially zoned parking lot near Milton.
-
Potted plant 'performs' music at Indigenous art gallery on Vancouver Island
When Rande Cook first spotted the potted plant, he 'hired' it on the spot. There was something about the snake plant that seemed to speak to him.
Sports
-
'Great for all of Alberta': Flames, Oilers prepare for battle in second round
Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk weren't even born the last time the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but they still understand how much the Battle of Alberta means to fans of both teams.
-
No. 2 Medvedev back on ATP tour after Wimbledon ban
Watching the recent news from Ukraine is 'very upsetting,' No. 2-ranked tennis player Daniil Medvedev said Sunday of the war that led Wimbledon organizers to ban him and other Russians from their tournament.
-
English soccer player Jake Daniels says he is gay
English soccer player Jake Daniels said he is gay on Monday in a trailblazing moment for the European men's game.
Autos
-
Renault sells Russia's Avtovaz stake, but leaves room for return
Renault will sell its majority stake in carmaker Avtovaz to a Russian science institute, the French carmaker said on Monday, adding that the deal included a six-year option to buy back the stake.
-
Leclerc crashes Lauda's historic F1 Ferrari in Monaco
Formula One championship leader Charles Leclerc again crashed in hometown Monaco, this time in a historic Ferrari.
-
Saudi man charged after Maserati driven down Rome's Spanish Steps
A man who this week drove his rented Maserati down Rome's Spanish Steps now faces charges for allegedly causing damage to the landmark, according to police in the Italian capital.
