Twitter’s New NFT Verification Tool Does Not Confirm Authenticity

Right-click-and-savers can still get their NFTs verified, even if the underlying artwork was stolen

article-image

A verified NFT on Twitter

share

key takeaways

  • A Twitter spokesperson told Blockworks that users can click on a profile picture to see whether the NFT collection has been verified with OpenSea
  • All ether-based NFTs that have a recorded transaction on the blockchain will be displayed on Twitter profiles

There’s a wrinkle in Twitter’s closely watched move to support verified NFTs for profile pictures: It’s impossible to tell whether the NFT is an original or a ripoff.

While the tool does verify who owns the NFT, it can’t affirm whether the image in the NFT is an original or an unauthorized copy.   

Opportunists looking to use a pirated NFT image as their profile picture can upload an identical-looking image of an NFT on third-party marketplaces such as OpenSea, mint it as an NFT and get it approved and verified by the social media giant to use as a profile picture. 

“If you can verify any NFT, doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of verification?” Brett Richey, founder of a Web3 sports betting startup BlitzPick, said.I thought Twitter would [roll] out verified collections only, but I can just mint a copy of [an] ape [NFT] and verify it, right? [This] seems pointless.”

The company said users can link their ether-based wallets to their Twitter accounts and display their digital collectibles as their profile pictures. 

Profiles with hexagon-shaped pictures have had their NFTs verified with the social media giant, thus signaling ownership on the blockchain. Users have to pay $2.99 each month through the company’s Twitter Blue subscription service and use an IOS device to utilize the new feature.

A spokesperson for Twitter told Blockworks that users can click on a profile picture to see whether the person’s NFT has been verified with OpenSea. All ether-based NFTs that have a recorded transaction on the blockchain will be displayed on Twitter profiles. 

“We want to make it possible for anyone to use NFTs and don’t want to gate-keep NFT collections that might not be verified by certain marketplaces,” the spokesperson said. “We felt it was important to give customers an easier way to see NFT details directly from someone’s profile picture and easily explore the contract address; by clicking on an NFT profile picture, people will be able to see whether a collection has been verified by OpenSea or another [third] party marketplace.”

Twitter Inc. (TWTR) was trading 1.6% lower at $33.62 per share at time of publication.

[stock_market_widget type=”table-quotes” template=”basic” assets=”TWTR” fields=”logo_name_symbol,price,change_abs,change_pct” links=”{‘TWTR’:{}}” display_header=”true” display_chart=”true” display_currency_symbol=”true” pagination=”true” search=”false” rows_per_page=”5″ sort_field=”logo_name_symbol” sort_direction=”asc” alignment=”left” api=”yf”]


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (4).jpg

Research

Polygon PoS is experiencing steady growth with 28 million weekly transactions and 97 million monthly transactions, competing against several L1s like TON and Avalanche C-Chain. Gaming (6.6%), infrastructure (8.4%), and prediction markets (5.7%) categories have grown steadily since January 2024.

Key figures including Vitalik Buterin struggle to communicate the network’s core mission in an era of memecoin-minimized attention spans

article-image

World Liberty Financial has been busy buying crypto ahead of its launch

article-image

Trump’s token is setting the “tone” for crypto, Empire co-host Santiago Santos said

article-image

A pair of fundraises by Tapestry and Oh both came with expansive ideas about the future of AI and the role of humans in it

article-image

The Calamos Bitcoin Structured Alt Protection ETF — January is set to offer “systematic risk management” across its roughly one-year outcome period

article-image

Crypto industry elites (and a journalist or two) donned black tie at the Crypto Ball Friday night