Crypto currency market developments continue to make headlines. Accordingly, Christopher Stanley, the executive responsible for payments at X, explained that one day X users could use the platform to send money to other users, purchase products from stores, and even earn interest income from the money in their accounts like a bank account.
Noteworthy Statements for X
Christopher Stanley, X’s information security officer, stated in a post dated April 22 that X’s payment capabilities will expand beyond just tipping to include an in-app wallet that could store and send money to other X users, and he added:
“Think of Venmo at first. As things develop, it could gain interest, buy products, and eventually be used to purchase things in stores.”
Stanley added that the ultimate goal of X payments is to create a fully functioning financial ecosystem where users never have to withdraw money for any typical transaction:
“The ultimate goal is, if you have any incentive to withdraw money from our system, then we have failed; you should never need to withdraw because you should be able to do everything you need on our platform.”
Stanley’s comments came just three days after X received a money transmission license in the state of Tennessee on April 19. With the latest license secured, X now has money transmission licenses in a total of 25 states in the United States.
Elon Musk and the Crypto Space
On December 21 last year, Elon Musk, chairman of the board at X, told Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, that he planned to launch in-app payment services at X by mid-2024. At that time, he hoped to start financial services earlier but was weighed down by bureaucratic processes.
Several commentators shared that X’s upcoming payment feature would initially only support fiat currencies, but it was reported that Musk instructed X’s developers to build the payment system in a way that could add crypto functionality in the future.
Despite Musk’s high level of interest in cryptocurrency in the past, as evidenced by Tesla still holding 9,720 Bitcoin and Dogecoin being accepted as a currency in the electric car company’s commercial store, Musk cast a shadow over hopes for crypto integration at X.
In December, he told Wood that he had almost no time to think about cryptocurrency. Since then, he has not made any statements confirming that crypto will be used for X payments.
