0 sats \ 0 replies \ @davidw 1 Sep 2023 \ on: I have an Elon Musk theory... bitcoin
I’d love to be wrong but I find it hard to believe that a person can reach his unique level of influence without being part of the charade. No one has their hands in as many disruptive pies as Elon, receiving as many government subsidises as he has. He is not going to work against their interests, especially not if they’re intent on governing economies across borders.
Here are my takes on his next steps:
  1. Walking doge into #2 spot - he’s going to give it unique prominence on X and make it the payment rails, because of his desire for his personal brand & impact. Bitcoin you cannot put on a leash and he knows it. This will be Bitcoin’s most prominent competitor to date, not Eth-heads or Eyeballcoin.
  2. Making all trust features require the $8pm subscription (caveats on tweets, DM protection, receiving payments, new AI search capabilities). You may otherwise need to pay for each post to be verified via a micro-transaction.
  3. Digital ID verification will become a requirement to posting or receiving currency. Payments require ID in this world, plus an uptick in bots and AIs again can make the app essentially unusable without it.
  4. Misuse of data. Mainstream VPNs will be unusable with app & web. All photos, videos etc uploaded to run facial recognition and perform mass sentiment analysis like never before. Clipping, tailoring & editing not just the feed but actual content to your personal wishes of the day. Putting “lenses” over content for different perspectives.
  5. Behavioural economics & content adaptability can reduce the need for shadow-bans or censorship.
  6. X rebrand was necessary in order to sell all this as something sexy. When really it’s just everything we have already, bundled into 1 closed & even more superficial system.
We’re now in a world where the cost of creating content is free, infinitely scalable and personalisable to every user in milliseconds. So identifying & profiling users becomes even more important than it ever was for Zuck.
With a tsunami of content building & coming… I think the jury is still out on if Elon is any different than the others. He too is likely going to pull-up the drawbridge. All in the name of “freedom”, but like WeChat 😂
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