Government-backed non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were in the news last April, after the UK made a bold move to create digital collectibles to foster the country’s commitment to tech. While this was seen as a positive one year ago, a statement released on March 27 has thrown the once-innovative idea into complete disarray. 

The Treasury of the UK has nixed the idea of releasing a government-backed NFT which would have placed the country ahead of other crypto-friendly nations as a leading global crypto hub. 

Economic uncertainty across the entire decentralized finance (DeFi) sector due to a muddied regulatory picture was cited as one of the main concerns leading to the scrapping of the token. That’s according to statements made by Harriet Baldwin, Chair of the Treasury Select Committee, to the BBC. 

Current British PM proposed idea last year 

Last April, John Glen, the minister and economic secretary to the Treasury, told an audience at the Innovative Finance Global Summit that then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the current Prime Minister, petitioned Royal Mint to make an NFT before the end of summer 2022. 

According to Glen, the whole idea was part of the UK’s forward-looking approach towards utilizing the latest technology in the country’s development. 

Brutal for NFTs/online worlds and it's not even 8am: Disney has folded down its metaverse team and Rishi Sunak's dream of a UK government issued NFT has ended…. sad!

— Lucy HM (@LHM1) March 28, 2023

While a government-backed “NFT for Britain” now appears off the table, economic secretary Andrew Griffith has made it known that the proposal will remain under review.

Shadow city minister Tulip Siddiq was quick to put the boot in, saying: “I’m glad the Royal Mint has finally made the Conservatives see sense, but we’ve been calling on the chancellor to drop this crypto gimmick for months.”

Global NFT market soars past $50bn in  sales 

Despite the negative market sentiment occasioned by the UK Treasury’s decision, the digital collectibles market remains the most profitable in the crypto-economy after the deepening of bearishness in the second half of 2022 due to the collapse of Terra and FTX. 

Global NFT sales in the past 24 hours stood at $41 million from the activities of 74,786 users involved in more than 180,000 transactions. Lifetime sales volume, meanwhile, has surpassed $50 billion.

Popular NFT project CryptoPunks holds the record for the four highest-selling individual NFTs, Axie Infinity remains the number one NFT collection by all-time sales volume with $4.2 billion, and Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum remains the biggest NFT blockchain by all-time sales volume of about $38 billion. 

NFT users are spread throughout the globe, with the majority hailing from the United States, Thailand, Brazil, China, Vietnam, India, Canada, Indonesia, Germany, and South Africa

Twitter’s revenue and adjusted earnings in December decreased by approximately 40% compared to the same period last year.

Several large advertisers have ditched the microblogging site after Elon Musk’s takeover, according to people familiar with the matter.

In an update to investors, Twitter reported a decline of about 40% year-over-year in both revenue and adjusted earnings for the month.

After acquiring Twitter in October of last year, CEO Elon Musk is focused on stabilizing the company’s finances, which have been strained by costly debt. Twitter is responsible for repaying $13 billion in debt, incurred to finance the acquisition, and is expected to pay over $1 billion in interest annually.

The company recently made a first interest payment to a group of banks that lent the $13 billion, ESJ cited the people.

The world’s richest man tried to boost Twitter’s revenue by introducing subscription-based user verification last December, just two months after his acquisition.

Also Read: Experts Say Twitter’s 2FA Policy Change ‘Doesn’t Make Sense’

Twitter, a publicly traded company in December 2021, did not disclose its monthly financials. However, for the fourth quarter ending on December 31st, Twitter reported revenue of $1.57 billion and a net income of $182 million.

Elon Musk has previously said that he is expecting Twitter to break even in 2023. “Twitter still has challenges, but is now trending toward breakeven if we keep at it,” said Elon Musk in a tweet in February.

‘Twitter can’t protect you from trolls’

Twitter is no longer capable of protecting its users from trolling, state-coordinated disinformation, and child sexual exploitation following layoffs and changes, according to a BBC report.

Features intended to protect Twitter users from trolling and harassment are proving difficult to maintain amid what is described as a chaotic working environment, where Mr. Musk is shadowed by bodyguards at all times, according to the BBC, which cited current and former employees of Twitter.

According to the former head of content design, her entire team, responsible for creating safety measures such as nudge buttons, has been fired. She subsequently resigned from her position. Twitter’s internal research indicates that these safety measures previously decreased trolling by 60%.

An engineer currently employed at Twitter expressed concern that nobody is currently addressing this work, comparing the platform to a building that may appear unharmed from the outside but is burning internally.

Abuse on Twitter is getting worse

Abuse on Twitter has gotten worse, according to a BBC reporter who visited San Francisco, the home of Twitter.

“It turns out, I was right. A team from the International Center for Journalists and the University of Sheffield have been tracking the hate I receive, and their data revealed the abuse targeted at me on Twitter had more than tripled since Mr Musk took over, compared with the same period in the year before,” she wrote.

The employees are also facing challenges. An engineer said; “For someone inside, it’s like a building where all the pieces are on fire.”

At least half of Twitter’s workforce have been sacked or have chosen to leave since Musk bought the company. Now people from other teams are having to shift their focus, he said.

“A totally new person, without the expertise, is doing what used to be done by more than 20 people, that leaves room for much more risk, many more possibilities of things that can go wrong,” he said.

He believes this lack of trust is betrayed by the level of security Elon Musk surrounds himself with.

Twitter announced on Saturday that SMS-based (text-based) two-factor authentication (2FA) will only be available for Blue Tick subscribers. Hence, experts have criticized the microblogging site, arguing that if security is the main goal, why are verified users being excluded?

Text- or SMS-based 2FA requires the user to enter a code received via a text message after logging in with a username and password. 2FA is a security feature to protect the user account from unauthorized access.

Effective March 20, 2023, only Twitter Blue subscribers will be able to use text messages as their two-factor authentication method. Other accounts can use an authentication app or security key for 2FA. Learn more here:https://t.co/wnT9Vuwh5n

— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) February 18, 2023

However, with a recent change in its policy, only users with a Blue Tick subscription will have access to SMS-based 2FA, leaving other users to rely on other methods such as using an authentication app or a physical security key.

Experts were concerned that Twitter’s new policy would confuse users by giving them so little time to complete the transition and making SMS two-factor appear to be a premium feature.

“The Twitter blog is right to point out that two-factor authentication that uses text messages is frequently abused by bad actors. I agree that it is less secure than other 2FA methods,” said Lorrie Cranor, director of Carnegie Mellon’s usable privacy and security lab.

Twitter is halting phone-number based 2FA because the company has found that it is being used – and abused – by bad actors. Twitter, one of the most popular social media platforms, has made it clear that there will be no new enrollments for the “text message/SMS” method of 2FA unless the users are Twitter Blue subscribers.

“But if their motivation is security, wouldn’t they want to keep paid accounts secure too? It doesn’t make sense to allow the less secure method for paid accounts only,” said Cranor.

Twitter, three days ago: Turn off two-factor authentication or you will lose your account.
Twitter today: pic.twitter.com/ReasCuoDZA

— Dígame Concejal (@RSGAT) February 20, 2023

Due to the insecurity of SMS-based two-factor authentication, industry leaders like Apple and Google have halted the option for this type of authentication and transitioned users to other forms of authentication. Last year, Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson’s Twitter account was hacked despite having two-factor authentication activated. McKesson shared later that the hacker convinced the telecom company to redirect the one-time password (OTP) to a different SIM card by impersonating him in a phone call.

This incident depicts the weakness of SMS-based 2FA and reinforces the need for users to adopt more secure forms of authentication to protect their accounts from cyberattacks.

Another controversial policy in Musk era

This change in policy is one more addition to the line-up of controversial decisions made by Twitter since the takeover by tech billionaire Elon Musk last year.

Twitter Blue, which is the only way to obtain the verification badge or ‘blue tick’, was introduced by Twitter in November 2022, one month after Musk purchased the company for $44 billion in October. This subscription-based service costs $11 per month for Android and iOS users, and $8 per month for desktop-only users.

That introduction of a subscription-based “Blue Tick” raised criticism and speculation over the authenticity of the verification badge.

“Let my Twitter Blue expire. It was not worth it. At least make it zero ads, Elon. Also, I tested changing my name twice and never got my blue verification back. Lots of work to do over there to get my $8,” tweeted Heidi Briones, a user.

‘Confusing Policy’

The experts are worried about the confusion that will be caused by this new Twitter policy, and the time given to complete the transition from text-based 2FA to another method is not very generous.

“On the surface, this sounds like a good degree of concern for users’ safety, but if you pay for Twitter Blue—and are, therefore, a customer who is serious about your Twitter usage and who Twitter should care about the most—you can continue to use that less secure method of authentication. Huh?” said Jim Fenton, an independent identity privacy and security consultant.

The company has not clarified what will happen if users do not disable SMS-based 2FA by the deadline of March 20. The experts were unable to find a logical connection between the reason and Twitter’s treatment of the new policy.

“And if you aren’t a Twitter Blue subscriber, and they downgrade you to just password-based authentication, now they’ve fully taken something that’s purported to improve users’ security and done exactly the opposite,” said Fenton.

Fenton stated that Twitter’s message would imply that they are replacing the existing authentication method with a new one that doesn’t require a hardware security key. Nevertheless, the exemption for Twitter Blue would remain nonsensical.