Ripple, FTX, Tezos leaders affected by Twitter’s blue checkmark removals Ripple, FTX, Tezos leaders affected by Twitter’s blue checkmark removals
Brad Garlinghouse and SBF, among others, have not updated to the new policy.
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Updated: Jul. 16, 2023 at 3:47 am UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
A number of crypto leaders appear to have lost their “blue checkmark” status following changes to Twitter’s identity verification model on April 20.
Crypto leaders impacted by new policy
Though attention has been drawn to the many mainstream public figures affected by Twitter’s policy change, a number of crypto leaders have been impacted as well.
One affected individual was Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who had a blue checkmark as recently as April 15 but did not have one on April 20.
Other leaders who have seemingly lost their blue checkmark include Tezos co-creator Kathleen Breitman and Shapeshift founder Erik Vorhees.
FTX founder and former CEO Sam-Bankman Fried also lost his blue checkmark today despite having it as recently as April 18. Bankman-Fried is not actively using Twitter due to his pending trial, possibly affecting his ability to adapt to the new policy.
Jack Dorsey, head of crypto-focused payment firm Block Inc. and the former CEO of Twitter, also lost his checkmark. Dorsey has not tweeted since January.
FOX Business cryptocurrency reporter Eleanor Terrett was affected as well. She commented on the policy change, writing: “I am not going to pay $8/month just to prove I am who I am.” Terret quipped: “it was a good run, blue check mark.”
Blue checkmarks now cost money
Originally, Twitter granted blue checkmarks to notable and highly public Twitter accounts as a means of proving identity and preventing impersonation and fraud.
However, under the leadership of Elon Musk, Twitter began to change its policy in late March to provide blue checkmarks to paying subscribers. Though this arguably removes the purpose of blue checkmarks, Twitter has introduced other identifying flairs, such as company logos for executives and grey checkmarks for government officials.
Many crypto leaders seem to have adapted to the change in policy. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, and Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin maintain blue check marks, among others.
It is possible that the accounts affected by the change will update soon.
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Author 
Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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X (formerly Twitter) is an American social media company based in San Francisco, California, that was founded by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams in March 2006 and was launched July of the same year.
Brad Garlinghouse stands at the forefront of financial technology as the CEO of Ripple.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the former CEO, and co-founder of defunct crypto exchange FTX and Alameda Research.
Kathleen Breitman co-founded Tezos, a blockchain-based smart contract platform with an on-chain governance mechanism to coordinate and push upgrades to its network.