Speculation Swirls as X’s New Payments Account Hints at Crypto Integration

When was the last time you got excited about a new social media account? Never? Well that all changes today. 

I hope you’re sitting down…because X has just created a new social media account dedicated to its upcoming payments platform, X Payments, fuelling speculation from the crypto community of impending crypto integration with X.

It’s an understatement to say this is a minor development—however, the creation of this account does indicate that X Payments is getting closer to launching. And although there hasn’t been an official announcement that crypto will be a part of it, Elon Musk’s history with crypto suggests it could be.

If crypto were to be integrated in the payment platform (still a big if), it would be an important step towards mainstream adoption of crypto technology and could potentially grow the number of active users of Web3 enormously.

What’s The Story With X Payments?

X Payments is expected to be a service allowing users to easily send and receive payments on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The inclusion of payments is part of Musk’s plan to make X the “everything app”, claiming the app will eventually give users the “ability to conduct your entire financial world” from within the app.

Musk said on an X Spaces stream last December that he expects to launch X Payments in mid-2024, pending the approval of several money transmitter licences.

However, Musk also indicated in the stream that he hasn’t been thinking about crypto much lately: “I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrency. Hardly any at all.” This suggests crypto may not be part of his plans for X Payments.

Is There Any Reason To Think X Payments Will Include Crypto?

Yes. The most compelling reason to think crypto payments could be included in X Payments is Elon Musk’s past interest in crypto and his use of crypto payments in some of his other businesses.

For example, Musk’s electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, holds almost US$150 million of Bitcoin and allows customers to purchase merchandise through its online store using DogeCoin. There have also been some reports of his tunnelling company, The Boring Company, allowing customers in Las Vegas to pay for rides using DogeCoin.

There has been speculation recently that Tesla could allow buyers of its soon-to-be-released CyberTruck to pay using DogeCoin. Musk has also spoken about the use of Bitcoin as a payment system for a human settlement on Mars, which he expects to happen by 2029.

Given Musk’s level of interest in crypto and his companies’ use of the technology, it’s certainly possible that he would want to include the option of crypto payments in X Payments, perhaps alongside more traditional fiat-based payment methods.