Social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is expected to launch its in-app payment services as early as the middle of 2024, revealed Elon Musk in a conversation with ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood yesterday.
The owner of X foresees the full-scale launch to be sometime in the “middle of next year”. However, this is subject to the approval of various money transmitter licence applications.
Musk now anticipates a swift roll-out of payments on X as he revealed being weighed down by the challenges posed by bureaucratic processes.
There aren’t any significant obstacles which would lead to rejection of the money transmitter licence applications, said Musk. However, he did admit in saying that X had somewhat delayed submitting all the necessary documentation.
The introduction of these payment services would be in line with X being the ‘everything app’. It would potentially streamline transactions within the social media platform, enhancing user engagement and expanding the app’s utility compared to what it is now.
The change would open gates to integrated payment methods for various purposes, such as purchasing goods, accessing premium features, or supporting content creators.
Musk’s overhaul of what was formally known as Twitter, by dropping its iconic blue bird in favour of an ‘X’ symbol, was done in an attempt to offer its users an “entire financial world”.
In a tweet posted in July, the tech mogul stated that his enterprise X Corp acquired Twitter to ensure freedom of speech and as an accelerant for the platform.
Not so sure about cryptocurrencies
While Musk has never confirmed cryptocurrency integrations into the X payments system, there has been much speculation around the incorporation of some of his favourite coins like Dogecoin ($DOGE) and Bitcoin ($BTC).
However, these hopes were dampened when the Tesla CEO revealed spending “hardly any” time thinking about digital assets.
“I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrency. Hardly any at all”, said Musk, responding to a question posed by his own artificial intelligence (AI) project, Grok.
He explained, saying that he imagines money and digital assets as a “database for resource allocation”. For him, fiat currency is “actually fine” as long as state actors don’t try to debase the currency by manipulating its supply.
Despite this new stance of being indifferent to cryptocurrencies, his electric vehicle manufacturing company Tesla still holds some $148 million in Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Tesla also allows customers to buy merchandise from its shop with the top meme coin Dogecoin. It used to accept flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a payment method for its products as well until it stopped in 2021.
According to Tesla’s official statement, it “suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin” out of concern over the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining”.
