Bad Checks: Twitter's Identity Crisis Is Costing Users More Than Bitcoin

Armed with a photo ID, scammers are successfully duping Twitter into giving them a "Blue check mark" of authenticity so they can impersonate real individuals and entities, all in an effort to bilk users out of money.

"People at home see this as a stamp that Twitter sees this as a good account, which can be very subjective," said Tim Pastoor, founder of the Netherlands-based digital identity startup 2way.io.

By vetting merely the identity behind the account, and not the intent, when issuing blue check marks, Twitter inadvertently makes scams even more dangerous, he continued.

"We dedicate a lot of resources towards combating illegitimate Twitter accounts and educating our users on how to spot them. However, our impact on certain sites is limited."

Just as Facebook lets people control which people they see posts from - friends only, select groups or the public - Twitter could give users more control over who shows up in their feeds.

Twitter declined to comment on any topic related to these events or policy changes in general, but Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey recently admitted that the platform's verification system is broken.

While Twitter has said the blue check mark does not imply its approval or endorsement, Lujan contends, "A person with a check mark has a stronger likelihood of appearing at the top of searches and feeds. What it boils down to is that Twitter verification processes need to be made more clear."

While Twitter's verification process is still uncertain, what remains clear is Twitter's impact on the cryptocurrency markets.

Lucas has seen a clear correlation between tweets from influential Twitter accounts and market volatility.

Lucas has noticed that a lot of Twitter feuds about bitcoin code changes and technical updates correlate to price dips.