Bluesky Adds Cashtags and Live Badges During Download Spike
Bluesky has updated its mobile app with new features intended to broaden conversation and highlight real-time activity, at a moment when its install numbers are climbing. The changes include support for cashtags, a tag format tailored to discussions about publicly traded stocks, and expanded access to a “Live Now” badge that shows when users are streaming on external platforms like Twitch.
Cashtags allow users to prefix a stock ticker with a dollar sign – for example, $AAPL for Apple – to create a linkable topic that aggregates posts about that company or ticker symbol. Originally introduced on finance-focused services like Stocktwits and later adopted by Twitter, this tagging convention is now part of Bluesky’s conversation tools, providing a familiar stock-related tagging system that was previously missing from the platform.
The Live Now badge, previously tested in a limited beta, is now being rolled out more broadly. When a user is currently broadcasting on Twitch, the badge appears on their profile, offering a direct link to the stream. While Bluesky does not yet support native livestreaming, the badge helps signal real-time activity and connect audiences to live content.
These product updates arrive alongside a noticeable uptick in new installs, particularly in the United States. According to Appfigures data cited in reporting on the changes, daily iOS downloads for Bluesky nearly doubled compared with a pre-controversy baseline. Between late December 2025 and early January 2026, U.S. installs increased from around 4,000 per day to approximately 29,000 in mid-January — an increase of about 49%.
Bluesky’s broader challenge remains converting these installs into sustained engagement. After experiencing declines in usage during 2025, and with users still maintaining heavy activity on larger platforms, the network is seeking to leverage new features to build habitual use patterns. The introduction of cashtags and live badges signals an effort to compete with established behaviours on other services – however, the platform is still missing some key features, namely images being easy to send alongside messages in the platform’s DMs.
