Decentralized Social Media Project BlueSky Says it Is Independent of Twitter

BlueSky, a project funded by Twitter to build a decentralized standard for social media, has stated that the company is not controlled by the company following Elon Musk’s purchase.

BlueSky Operates Independent of Twitter

In a tweet thread on April 25, BlueSky stated that although it was funded by Twitter, the social media platform does not hold any controlling stake in the platform. BlueSky also clarified that Twitter’s funding came with one condition, that the project carried out “research and develop technologies that enable open and decentralized public conversation.”

Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey first announced the creation of BlueSky back in December 2019, indicating that the plan was to “develop an open and decentralized standard for social media.”

Later in August 2021, Jay Graber, a former developer for the privacy coin Zcash, was appointed to lead the BlueSky initiative. In February 2022, the project became a public benefit limited liability company (PBLLC).

At the end of March 2022, Graber announced the project’s first team members who had Aaron Goldman as a security engineer, and Daniel Holmgren and Paul Frazee as protocol engineers.

BlueSky, which has Dorsey as a member of its board, revealed that the initiative has received funding worth $13 million, to be used for research and development.

An excerpt from the thread said:

“The “public benefit” part of our structure gives us the freedom to put our resources towards our mission without an obligation to return money to shareholders.”

Elon Musk Inks Deal to Buy Twitter for $44 Billion

BlueSky’s clarification means that the project is not affected by the recent purchase of Twitter. As reported by CryptoPotato, the social media giant accepted a buyout deal by billionaire and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, worth $44 billion.

Musk earlier bought a 9.2% passive stake in the social media platform, making him the largest shareholder in the company. Following the purchase of the shares, the billionaire was appointed to Twitter’s board of directors, but he later decided not to join.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has been critical of Twitter’s practices, stating that the social media behemoth was not transparent and failed to adhere to free speech principles.

Having secured 100% control of Twitter, Musk is aiming to improve the platform by “enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spambots, and authenticating all humans.”

Dogecoin (DOGE), which happens to be the billionaire’s favorite crypto, has also soared in value amid the Twitter sale news. The price of the memecoin rose 26% on the news that the Twitter buyout deal was finalized.