Twitter May Not Get Its Crypto-Friendly Owner: Elon Musk Seeks Exit From Deal

The latest chapter of Elon Musk’s Twitter acquisition may be the saga’s last: A new letter to Twitter’s general counsel alleges that the company hasn’t met its obligations in closing the deal.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he’s been eager to gather precise data on spam and bot activity on the platform. In May, Musk said that the $44 billion acquisition was “temporarily on hold” until he could verify that fewer than 5% of Twitter users were fake. 

But, according to Musk’s counsel, Twitter has only ever provided details about its methodology for measuring such activity, not exactly how much of it occurs.

“Twitter’s latest offer to simply provide additional details regarding the company’s own testing methodologies, whether through written materials or verbal explanations, is tantamount to refusing Mr. Musk’s data requests,” reads the letter prepared by Musk’s attorneys. 

It continues by stating that Musk doesn’t find these methodologies “adequate” and that he “must conduct his own analysis.”

Perhaps most important, however, this tussle has been deemed a “clear material breach” of the two parties’ merger agreement and gives Musk the right “to terminate the merger agreement” altogether. 

Twitter shares are down about 3.4% to $38.81 as of this writing.

If the deal falls through, the social media platform may never see a host of crypto-infused upgrades Musk has hinted at since the deal began gaining traction.

Crypto integration

Besides becoming crypto Twitterati’s poster boy, Musk does actually have a few ideas about how to integrate Web3 technology into the platform.

For starters, he’d look to tackle scams. “If I had a Dogecoin for every crypto scam I see, I’d have 100 billion Dogecoins,” he said in a recent interview. 

He’s also suggested using Dogecoin (or potentially another cryptocurrency) as a payment option for Twitter’s premium Blue membership. 

Turning to crypto for payments has been a common thread running through Musk’s plans. When discussing the potential of turning Twitter into a WeChat-esque “super app,” he noted that crypto payments could be one such feature.

Twitter has yet to comment publicly, but already several business and media experts have weighed in.

Stephanie Ruhle of MSNBC reminded Twitter followers that Musk “waived the right to due diligence in the merger agreement,” meaning that it should be much harder for him to exit the deal.

Meanwhile, Brian Quinn, a Boston College law professor, indicated that today’s news shows that Musk wants out “or something that will get leverage for a renegotiation of the price.”

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