Former president Donald Trump has already announced that, even if they unblock his account, he will not use this social network again

Elon Musk acquires Twitter for 40 billion euros

photo_camera REUTERS/DADO RUVIC - Elon Musk closes a deal with Twitter to buy the social network for 44 billion dollars.

Elon Musk, known as the richest man in the world, has acquired the social network Twitter for 44 billion dollars, which corresponds to 40 billion euros. With this final sale, the entrepreneur has managed to emerge successful from negotiations that began ten years ago.

Thus, Twitter shareholders will end up receiving 54.20 dollars for each share, which corresponds to 38% more than the closing share price on 1 April 2022, when it was announced that Musk had acquired 9.1% of the company. 

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Although the purchase has already been made public, the sale is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. Among one of the arguments given by Musk for having bought the social network, he highlighted the fact that "it is not a platform for freedom of expression". According to him, Twitter "should be transformed into a private company" that fosters trust among users. In fact, after his purchase, everything points to the fact that Musk is going to transform the social network into a private company, which will lead to the network going public after the purchase process is completed.

"I hope even my worst critics are still on Twitter, because that's what free speech is all about... free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square," tweeted Tesla's CEO after the purchase transaction. 

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Others, meanwhile, have been critical of the new owner and have indicated that the purchase could have the opposite result. According to the president of the organisation Media Matters for America, Twitter's deal with the sale "will be a victory for misinformation and the people who sell it". The billionaire, who currently has 83 million followers, could influence the behaviour of the platform and social media as a whole, so major changes are expected.

As a result of the change of ownership, Musk has announced, precisely through Twitter, the first changes that this well-known social network, which currently has 1.3 million accounts worldwide, will undergo. For the moment, these include eradicating spam bots from the platform. This was confirmed by Musk in a tweet after stating that they will defeat "spam bots or we will die trying". Likewise, in a second Tweet, Musk proposed authenticating "real accounts" and assured that he would like the network's algorithm to be public so that it can be audited, as well as guaranteeing freedom of expression on the platform.  

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In terms of challenges to try to make more money from the platform, Musk seems to want to turn to Twitter Blue. This network is a subscription service that is currently available in several countries and offers several privileges to those who have it. Among them, the entrepreneur highlights that people who have this service will be able to obtain the verified account badge. 

Along with this, he intends to do away with the imposed limit of 280 characters per tweet, one of the rules that would have most outraged users. It also aims to provide the possibility of editing tweets that have already been published.

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Trump will not return to Twitter

Musk's purchase has not been without controversy. Former US president Donald Trump has spoken out on the matter and said he "will not return to Twitter" even if the entrepreneur decides to reactivate his account, permanently blocked by the social network after the assault on the capitol, indicating that he will remain on the "TRUTH" network. 

"We're getting millions of people, and what we're seeing is that the response on TRUTH is much better than being on Twitter. Twitter has bots and fake accounts," he explained to FOX news network.

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 Cryptocurrency market booms

Twitter's new purchase has had a major effect on the cryptocurrency market. Dogecoin, the coin that Musk himself has been promoting for more than a year, soared more than 30%. 

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The also known as "the meme cryptocurrency" has climbed to reach $0.17, unlike the continuity of other similar assets since the news broke, such as Bitcoin and Etherum. In this line, the tycoon has been repeatedly promoting this cryptocurrency, which would have started as a meme in 2013. Since Musk branded the Dogecoin as "the people's cryptocurrency", its value has continued to rise.

Dogecoin works in a similar way to other cryptocurrencies. In this aspect it uses a cryptographic programme called Scrypt that allows it to be mined more quickly. This speed is also maintained in transactions, which means that payments made through this cryptocurrency can be faster than those made with Bitcoin.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.

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