Social-media platform X (formerly Twitter) has announced a new sub-platform: the “Handles Marketplace,” through which Premium+ and Premium Business subscribers can acquire usernames that are no longer actively in use.
Under the plan, the company will categorize unused handles into two tiers: ‘Priority’ and ‘Rare’. The more common handles fall under the former category, sometimes allowing for a free claim, while the highly desirable names fall under the latter. Rare handles are available to purchase with price tags ranging anywhere from $2,500 to astonishing seven figures depending on availability and demand.
Another property worth noting is that if a subscriber securing a handle later downgrades or cancels their Premium subscription, they lose the new handle and revert to their original one. The marketplace is clearly being positioned as an ongoing service rather than a platform that enables one-off sales. This makes it easy for the social media platform to push deeper subscriptions and additional revenue for X.
It’s not unreasonable to call dormant usernames as under-used assets for a social media platform. For businesses, influencers/KOLs or professionals wanting a clean, memorable handle, the marketplace could offer a solution. But it raises questions: requiring a premium subscription along with a potentially high cost may limit it to only those willing and able to pay, and the fact that the handle isn’t truly “owned” but tied to subscription status may reduce its traction.
Treating identity and names as a purchasable commodity does ironically resonate thematically with a social media platform that dominates as the host of most online web3 communities.
