X (Formerly Knowns As Twitter) Reportedly Sells Discarded Handles for $50,000

Over the past year, when Elon Musk initially took over Twitter, he has been searching for ways to earn money. The issue with the verification check was always about money generating, and most recently, Musk introduced "X Premium."

Elon Musk and His Need for More X Money

A portion of the features that "X Premium" customers receive may have been offered for free at one point in time. Posts can now include up to 25,000 characters instead of just 280. Members who pay can edit and format posts for up to 60 minutes, according to Phone Arena.

(Photo : by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
BLETCHLEY, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: SpaceX, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks with other delegates during day one of the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park on November 01, 2023 in Bletchley, England.

Videos up to three hours long and up to eight gigabytes in size in 1080p can be uploaded by premium customers. "X Premium" offers three service tiers.

Selling Old Twitter Handles

Forbes reports that Musk is thinking about selling his former Twitter accounts. The latter has emails from a group within the corporation called the @Handle Team, which has begun developing a marketplace where outdated, abandoned Twitter identities may be bought.

"X" has been reaching out to possible purchasers by email while waiting for the marketplace to be constructed. With certain handles, it has offered to sell the rights to use it on the "X" platform for a fixed price of $50,000. In order to protect the anonymity of the receivers, Forbes pledged not to release the emails.

About a year has passed since the idea to sell used handles was first proposed. Musk said on his social media platform in November 2022 that trolls and bots had seized a lot of handles, and he promised to release them the following month. A user going by "X" proposed a handle marketplace where buyers and sellers could work out a deal to sell abandoned "X" and Twitter names for a predetermined price, with Musk's company taking a cut. The New York Times revealed in January of last year that Musk intended to provide 1.5 billion handles.

It appears that the handle marketplace is still in development because the "X" Help Center's answer to the question "Can I get an inactive username?," states,

"Unfortunately, we cannot release inactive usernames at this time." You must sign in every 30 days if you don't want your "X" username to be regarded as discarded. While there are currently no plans to share unused handles, Musk is known for shouting "Fire, Shoot, Aim," so you never know what he could decide to do or when.

According to prior rumors, the social media behemoth was lately thinking about exiting the European Union. According to the source, Elon Musk was not pleased with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), which attempts to control internet companies like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and X.

In order to prevent disinformation and safeguard user data and privacy, platforms must adhere to the DSA; otherwise, the EU may impose severe fines. The EU's prohibition on Meta's Threads app, which is connected to Instagram, is an example of the stringent data-sharing regulations enforced by the DSA.