Elon Musk has long stated his desire to turn X (formerly Twitter) into an “everything app”. Of course, this includes allowing payments to be made on the platform. Even before he bought the platform, he had mused about using something like Dogecoin (DOGE) to be the primary currency of the social media platform, causing the asset to skyrocket to an all time high of over 70 cents US (it’s now 5 cents).
At the beginning of 2023, Musk even instructed his developers to build the platform’s payment system in a way that will allow crypto functionality, and that’s just the start.
X Has Already Obtained Licenses
X has obtained money or currency transmitter licenses in seven U.S. states: Arizona, Maryland, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. The Rhode Island license is the most recent, having been approved at the end of August. Importantly, the Rhode Island license allows for processing crypto payments.
A currency transmitter license is legally required for companies conducting financial activities on behalf of users such as sending and receiving money. This definition includes both fiat and crypto assets. Overall, this means that the approval will allow for X to custody, transfer and exchange digital currencies in addition to fiat ones.
It’s also important to note that these are the same licenses which PayPal has in order to offer their similar combination of both fiat and crypto asset services.
What Does it Mean for Crypto?
It’s likely a safe bet that if and/or when X integrates a payments system into the platform they’ll allow fiat, but with these new license acquisitions, it certainly seems possible the system will launch with both as options. If nothing else, as long as it’s announced that crypto payments will be available at some point, it will likely be a boon for the sector.
Of course, it will depend on the digital asset that you’re allowed to use for payments on X, because if it’s just Dogecoin or something like that, it will only likely help that one asset. However, if Elon and X are smart, they’ll integrate as many different crypto payment options as possible. This will allow them to maximize both adoption of the system and profits at the same time.
Much like with what PayPal is trying to do by offering their stablecoin, X will likely find a way to bring in extra revenue for themselves by integrating a fiat and crypto payment system into the platform.
Closing Thoughts: It Could Be Huge
It will be extremely interesting to see just how crypto will be used on X if and when it’s integrated as well. Will it be the primary type of transaction, or will fiat still be extremely popular? Which crypto asset will be the main choice of X users? It’s likely that whatever digital assets have the cheapest transaction fees while having fast transaction finality will be the winners, as they’ll be the best choices for both micropayments and larger ones.
Hopefully, this payment system is put in place sooner than later, as we need better options for sending funds to friends and family, especially those on the other side of the world.
