Bluesky rolls out stock cashtags and live streaming badges

Social networking startup Bluesky is updating its app to introduce cashtags—which are hashtags with a dollar symbol used for discussing publicly traded stocks—and a “Live Now” badge for Twitch streaming. These features could potentially help the platform capitalize on a recent boost in new installs in the U.S. According to data from market intelligence provider Appfigures, daily downloads of Bluesky’s iOS app in the U.S. jumped nearly 50% after controversies surrounding competitor X intensified. While Bluesky typically sees around 4,000 installs in the U.S. per day, its U.S. iOS downloads totaled around 19,500 from December 30, 2025, through January 6, 2026. From January 7, 2026, through January 14, those downloads grew to 29,000, representing a 49% increase.

This sudden influx of U.S. users follows a major controversy on X. Users on that platform had been asking Grok, an AI chatbot owned by xAI, to generate sexualized images of real women and minors without their consent. The situation escalated when the California Attorney General opened an investigation into xAI’s chatbot over the proliferation of “nonconsensual sexually explicit material.”

The addition of cashtags allows Bluesky to target financial discussions, a popular use case on X. The format was originally created by Stocktwits, a stocks-focused social network that now has over 10 million users, before Twitter adopted the tags in 2012. Meanwhile, the “Live Now” badge is an expansion of an experimental feature. It allows users to display a temporary badge on their avatar to show when they are active on Twitch, though it does not support direct broadcasting on Bluesky itself.

Despite the recent surge, Bluesky faces significant hurdles in keeping these new users. The startup has previously struggled with user retention; Appfigures noted that Bluesky’s downloads dropped to new lows in April 2025, and daily average users on mobile devices declined nearly 40% by the end of October. This historical drop suggests that switching costs are higher than some would expect when users attempt to swap one real-time social network for another.

Why it matters

The new features are a strategic attempt to retain users who flocked to the platform following controversies on X, though long-term retention remains a significant hurdle.