Discord CEO hints at integrating Ethereum via wallets such as MetaMask

Update, November 11: Two days after the publication of this story, Discord CEO Jason Citron clarified that the company currently does not have plans to integrate crypto.

"Thanks for all the perspectives everyone. We have no current plans to ship this internal concept," tweeted Citron. "For now we're focused on protecting users from spam, scams and fraud. Web3 has lots of good but also lots of problems we need to work through at our scale. More soon."

Jason Citron, founder and CEO of Discord, has hinted that the chat app could integrate the Ethereum network via wallets such as MetaMask.

In a tweet early on Tuesday, Citron posted a screenshot that shows Discord connecting to Ethereum, saying "probably nothing" — a phrase often used to mean it is probably something.

If Ethereum is successfully integrated into Discord, the app's millions of users could send each other crypto, and Discord might be able to monetize the offering through transaction fees generated from a native token swap feature.

Citron's tweet came as a reply to Packy McCormick's tweet, who is the founder of Not Boring Capital and Not Boring newsletter. McCormick tweeted the latest issue of his newsletter in which he wrote that Discord could play web3 given its reach of 150 million monthly active users.

Apparently, in August, Discord ran a survey asking users about a "Discord-native crypto wallet," meaning every Discord account could come with a crypto wallet.

But according to McCormick, Discord currently doesn't have crypto skills. However, it could acquire a crypto wallet and the team behind it or hire a team to build the wallet on its own, he said.

"If Discord is serious about web3, a wallet would be a bold entrée that facilitates even bolder moves," said McCormick.

Earlier this year, Microsoft was said to be in advanced talks to acquire Discord for $10 billion or more, but those talks were reportedly halted as Discord seeks a potential IPO in the future.

Discord was launched in 2015 and has raised over $980 million in total funding to date. It was reportedly valued at about $15 billion in September when it raised $500 million in a new funding round. Its investors include high-profile venture firms such as Target Global, Bessemer Venture Partners, Index Ventures, Accel, Tencent, Coatue Management, Fidelity Management & Research, and Franklin Templeton Investments.