Bitcoin Twitter or “Crypto Twitter” refers to a “sub-Twitter” or community on the social media platform which primarily tweets about issues in the cryptocurrency world. Like all human aspects of crypto, the community has received its fair share of blowback over toxicity, particularly related to how it treats its own members.
You Don’t Even Have to Post Actual Nudes
Recently, Twitter’s NrdGrl007, or Nicole Grinstead, an attractive woman who lives in the Western half of the United States, pulled a bit of a stunt to get people to join the new Note blockchain social media platform. Note is a Scrypt-based cryptocurrency whose primary offering is the social media aspect – notes are used to tip creators on the platform. Posts only stay live on the platform for 24 hours, creating an interesting time-sensitive atmosphere.
Needless to say, plenty of people went to sign up for Note in hopes of seeing NrdGrl007 naked. Those who did found that she actually posted a picture of some baby hamsters, fresh out of the womb. They were nude, of course, but not what many were expecting. Nevertheless, others on Twitter gave NrdGrl007 a hard time. These people clearly didn’t even bother to sign up for the Notes network.
You're brave by posting nudes? Only cheap girls do this
Congrats— Alexandra Paula (@PaulaAlex93) June 5, 2020
The interlude led Grinstead to call Crypto Twitter “abusive,” and likely not for the first time.
Crypto Twitter is my boyfriend
and we are in an abusive relationshipChange my mind
— NrdGrl007 (@nrdgrl007) June 7, 2020
When asked about this last tweet, Grinstead said:
It’s not so much that anything happened recently as it is ongoing from personal experience and observation, but to give an example: You obviously saw the post I made about posting nudes on Note. I never said that they were nudes of me, or even human nudes. I did imply that, but I did so to help Note gain some new users and adoption. Without even checking the thread, numerous people commented and called me cheap or a whore. Others said that those who use their bodies to gain followers quickly do so because they aren’t intelligent enough to make it CT on brains alone… So all of that is pretty abusive. You know – and most don’t – that I was attempting to contribute to this industry without relying on my looks at all, and it got me no where fast […] [I]s that really such a bad thing? Shouldn’t people with different skill sets and gifts come together and use each others’ instead of trying to enforce standard requirements for contribution? Further, isn’t crypto about people gaining sovereignty from an oppressive system, yet, putting people down for using their bodies or their brains is a hallmark of that oppressive system.
Trolls Bring Out The Worst In Other Trolls
Examples of the kind of abusive tone she refers to aren’t hard to find on Crypto Twitter. She gave me some usernames to look up, and it wasn’t long before I found some interesting misogyny.
Women like crypto , some are pump and dump. Others are long term hold
— Notorious (@TheNotoriousBNB) August 3, 2019
Women are like a shitcoin, they only exist to trick you into giving them your btc.
— Basil (@CrazilOG) March 17, 2019
So, is crypto Twitter abusive? Apparently, it depends on your known gender. As a mundane single father of four, who doesn’t engage in the platform much, I personally am not subject to much of the hatred. An interesting experiment would be to create a fake account and try some of the behaviors that seem to elicit the nonsense.
Is it toxic? Well, we’ve talked about maximalism and trolling before. Probably it is a bit toxic, which means it’s only going to attract a certain type of newcomer. Backbiting and debating the technical and financial aspects of cryptocurrencies is one thing, but attacking people based on their personal decisions or gender seems like a good way to put people off.
In any case, perhaps Twitter is no longer the best place to find information about crypto. We’ve got a number of crypto-native social media platforms, including Note, Steem, and Cent.co. The culture is still there, but at least you stand a chance to earn a little something for all the abuse you stand to suffer.
