Elon Musk has come up with yet another scheme to get money out of Twitter users.
On Friday, Forbes revealed Musk’s plans to start selling old Twitter handles that users are no longer using. The outlet obtained emails from Twitter employees, who spoke about Musk’s new initiative to offer up unused usernames. The group will stage a marketplace where buyers can look through desired usernames and buy them from accounts that have gone quiet for a while. However, the main issue seems to be with the hefty price tag, with Musk wanting to sell the handles for up to $50,000.
The crew in charge of selling the stagnant Twitter names is known as the “Handle Team.” It appears that they’ve already begun trying to sell off some of the usernames in what seems to be a testing phase. Though Musk has yet to respond to the matter, this latest money grab does not come as a surprise for the Tesla mogul, who has desperately rolled out several new programs to bring in revenue to the app.
Musk has notoriously introduced subscriptions to the platform, which gives users a verified check mark, the ability to edit tweets, and several other features. There have been talks for a while that he may one day consider charging everyone for using the app. While implementing such fees, Musk has notably removed the popular Twitter Circle and is considering removing the block button, though that may be a violation of app marketplace policies.
Musk has been trying to recover after several major advertisers refused to spend money on the app after he acquired it in 2022.
