Twitter announces new hiring for its upcoming Crypto & NFT projects

Twitter has appointed Tess Rinearson as the new Crypto Engineering lead for the social media giant, to lead a new team focused on crypto, blockchains, and other decentralized technologies—including and going beyond cryptocurrencies.

I’m thrilled to share that I’ve joined Twitter, to lead a new team focused on crypto, blockchains, and other decentralized technologies—including and going beyond cryptocurrencies.✨ pic.twitter.com/HaP0k5hUOq

— Tess Rinearson (@_tessr) November 10, 2021

Rinearson is a crypto veteran who is working in cryptocurrency since 2015. Her previous stints include Interchain Foundation, and at Chain.com

In her new role, she will be working closely with the @bluesky team to help shape the future of decentralized social media (and to make sure that Twitter stays on the cutting edge of this new landscape, too!).

"As I build out the team, we’ll be working to figure out what crypto can do for Twitter, as well as what Twitter can do for crypto. Twitter truly “gets” crypto (hello bitcoin tipping & NFTs!) but there’s so much more to explore here", Rinearson mentioned on her Twitter Profile.

As explained by Twitter in a blogpost, "“Blockchain and crypto are unlocking new possibilities that align with many of our big product bets, including creator monetization and new forms of self-expression. It’s time for Twitter to explore that technology in earnest, and Tess has the experience to lead that charge.”

The social media giant is also working on making NFT profile images a different shape, which would mean that unauthorized NFTs would stand out if/when used as a profile image.