Elon Musk aims to make the X platform “the biggest financial institution in the world”. Therefore, his focus now is on integrating financial services inside the X app.
Elon Musk is reportedly looking for a financial data company to partner with X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, and create a stock trading service inside the X app.
According to Semafor which was the first one to release a report about Musk’s ambitions, the billionaire has already sent a few proposals to big-name companies, offering them the ability to reach “hundreds of millions of highly-qualified users.” Elon Musk has also inquired about proposals on financial content and real-time stock data as well as asked what would be the sum of the investment. It is not yet clear if any firms submitted proposals.
On X, Elon Musk denied work on the service:
No work is being done on this to the best of my knowledge
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2023
Earlier, Elon Musk repeatedly spoke about his plans to allow payments on the X platform. Initially, the payments would be available only in fiat currencies. However, taking into consideration Musk’s affinity for digital assets, especially the meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE), the billionaire is definitely open to the idea of having the option to add crypto at a later point.
Besides, in April, X partnered eToro – a company behind an investing platform – to allow X users easily access stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets.
X to Become an ‘Everything App’
Elon Musk aims to make the X platform “the biggest financial institution in the world.” Therefore, his focus now is on integrating financial services inside the X app. In July, he also revealed his plans to create an “everything app” similar to WeChat – a Chinese platform for messaging, voice and video calls, social media posts, mini-programs, payment services, and more. The rebranding of Twitter to X has been the first step in building a super-app.
At that time, Musk stated:
“If you’re in China, you kind of live on WeChat. It does everything. It’s sort of like Twitter plus PayPal plus a whole bunch of things all rolled into one, with a great interface. It’s really an excellent app, and we don’t have anything like that outside of China.”
The billionaire also promised to “add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world.” If X becomes an ‘everything app’, it will serve as a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.
Similar apps already exist in Japan (the Line messaging platform is used to store vaccination cards and shop for clothes) and South Korea (there, KakaoTalk started as a messaging service and turned into an app for sending money and requesting taxi rides).
The competition is already high, therefore, the X app has to be really cutting-edge and possess unique features to beat the rivals.
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