Etoro, the social trading company, has announced a partnership with Twitter that will enable microblogging platform users to invest in cryptocurrencies and other assets. The move is seen as a step toward transforming Twitter into a “super app” under the ownership of entrepreneur Elon Musk, providing financial and other services. As part of the deal, Twitter’s “$Cashtags” feature, which was launched in December 2022 and already provides real-time data on some index funds and shares, will offer market charts on a broader range of financial instruments, including stocks and cryptocurrencies, and allow trading of the assets through the Etoro website. Established in Tel Aviv in 2007, Etoro currently has 32 million registered users across Europe, Asia, and the US.
Since Musk’s acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022, the new owner and CEO has implemented a series of changes, including laying off thousands of employees and rolling out a subscription-based plan for verified users. However, some of Musk’s moves, including changes in content moderation standards, have worried advertisers. The new partnership with Etoro represents a significant development in Twitter’s history, according to CNBC. The CEO of the online brokerage, Yoni Assia, said in an interview with the news outlet that the company was “very excited about the intersection of finance and social media” and believed that the collaboration would help Etoro “reach those new audiences [and] connect better the brands of Twitter and Etoro.”
Turning Twitter into a “super app” offering a range of services from instant messaging to banking has been one of Musk’s objectives. At a Morgan Stanley conference last month, he expressed his desire for Twitter to become “the biggest financial institution in the world.” The partnership with Etoro may be seen as a step toward realizing that vision, as it enables Twitter users to trade cryptocurrencies and other assets and positions the social media platform as a financial services provider.
