The @Bitcoin Twitter account is a prime piece of crypto real estate. With 667,000 followers, it is more popular than any other cryptocurrency account on Twitter by a considerable margin. When @Bitcoin tweets, its message is carried far and wide. But lately, the operator of the account has begun tweeting a preponderance of stories about bitcoin cash, some of which originated on news.Bitcoin.com. This move has led to accusations from high profile bitcoiners that the @Bitcoin domain is now under the control of Bitcoin.com.
The Enigma Behind the @Bitcoin Name
The @Bitcoin Twitter account was registered on 17 August 2011 and has gone on to send over 19,000 tweets. In recent years, the account’s operator seems to have had more pressing real-world matters to attend; throughout 2017 @Bitcoin did little more than retweet Coindesk’s price updates. Then, following a lengthy hiatus, the account began regularly tweeting again on January 2, with many of the stories it shared emanating from news.Bitcoin.com.
Be it a New Year’s resolution or simply a desire to re-engage with all things bitcoin, the account’s owner seems to have fallen back in love with crypto. Rather than being welcomed back into the fold like a prodigal son, @Bitcoin has attracted ire from prominent bitcoiners, including Bitgo’s Jameson Lopp, for expressing support for bitcoin cash. Users of Reddit’s r/bitcoin, a forum known for its pro-censorship attitude, predictably urged users to “report” the account, as if tweeting about a certain version of bitcoin was somehow in breach of Twitter’s rules.
So Who Controls the @Bitcoin Twitter?
News.Bitcoin.com can confirm that no one at Bitcoin.com is in control of the account or exerting influence over it. As far as can be determined, the operator of the account is the same individual who has ran it since day one. In a DM shared by “Satoshi Nakamoto”, one of the few accounts @Bitcoin follows, @Bitcoin joked about their identity, writing “I wonder who I am every day. Far too many people take fun on twitter too seriously”.
Who Controls the @Bitcoin Twitter Account?
The likeliest explanation for the account’s recent show of support for bitcoin cash is that the individual believes it more closely resembles the original vision of what bitcoin was meant to be. Given that heavyweights such as Gavin Andresen have echoed this sentiment, the notion isn’t that outlandish. The owner of the Twitter account has simply updated his views and understanding of Bitcoin, a reality reflected in the owner’s choice of retweets.
Do you think the Twitter account @Bitcoin is still controlled by the same individual or was it recently overtaken? Let us know in the comments section below.