Bluesky adds cashtags, LIVE badges to boost user engagement
What's the story
Bluesky, a social networking platform, is rolling out two new features: cashtags and LIVE badges. The updates come as the platform has witnessed a spike in new installs after the X deepfake news went viral. The new features are aimed at enhancing user interaction on the platform, and capitalizing on this recent surge in popularity.
Introduction
Cashtags: A new way to discuss stocks
The cashtags feature will allow users to discuss publicly traded stocks using specialized hashtags. The idea was first popularized by Stocktwits, a social network for stocks with over 10 million users. To create a cashtag, users simply place a dollar symbol before the stock ticker symbol (e.g., $AAPL for Apple). This feature is expected to make Bluesky more competitive with other platforms like X that already have such capabilities.
Feature expansion
What about LIVE badges?
Along with cashtags, Bluesky is also expanding access to its "Live Now" experimental feature. The update lets users add a temporary "LIVE" badge to their avatar when they're streaming online on Twitch. The feature doesn't allow live streaming directly on Bluesky itself.
Download spike
Bluesky's download surge
Bluesky has witnessed a massive surge in downloads in the US, following the X deepfake news controversy. According to data from Appfigures, daily downloads of Bluesky's iOS app have increased by nearly 50% since the deepfakes issue came to light. From December 30, 2025, to January 6, 2026, Bluesky saw around 19,500 iOS downloads in the US. The number jumped to an impressive 29,000 between January 7 and January 14, a whopping increase of nearly 50%.