TWTR - Elon Musk Had Plans For A Blockchain-Based Social Media Platform

Before offering to buy %Twitter () for $44 billion U.S., Elon Musk had plans to develop a %SocialMediaPlatform that would charge users money to post short messages on a %Blockchain , new court documents reveal.

A series of text messages released as part of the ongoing court case over the now aborted Twitter acquisition show Musk’s keen interest in social media and his vision for its future.

“I think a new social media company is needed that is based on a blockchain and includes payments,” Musk said in a text message just days before he offered to buy Twitter this past April.

Musk has since backed out of the highly publicized acquisition, which led Twitter to file a lawsuit against the %Tesla () chief executive in order to force him to honor the deal.

Musk is scheduled to be deposed in court in October, but a series of texts released as part of the trial shows what was happening in the lead up to the April offer.

The text messages span 40 pages and cover six months between January and June of this year. The messages involve public figures ranging from %AngelInvestor Jason Calacanis to podcaster Joe Rogan.

Musk said publicly that he wanted to buy Twitter because he believed it failed to protect free speech and threatened democracy.

The text messages released as part of the trial show that Musk envisioned blockchain as a solution to Twitter's free speech problem.

“I have an idea for a blockchain social media system that does both payments and short messages/links like Twitter. You have to pay a tiny amount to register your message on the chain, which will cut out the vast majority of spam and bots. There is no throat to choke, so free speech is guaranteed,” Musk said in a text message to his brother Kimbal Musk in early April.

Twitter’s stock is up 0.19% this year and trading at $42.74 U.S. per share.