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Okay, things might not be going awesome at Elon Musk’s X project right now, but we’re still in the early stages of the “everything app” plan, and we haven’t even got to the payments part yet. Right?
Well, that looks to be coming soon, according to a new finding in the back-end code of the app (via @swak_12).
Yes, X is building out its coming payments UI, which is a key element in Elon Musk’s grand vision for what the app will eventually grow to become.
To recap, back in 2000, Musk and then colleague David Sacks formulated a plan for an app that could facilitate not only payments, but all forms of financial transactions online. Musk and Sacks, who worked together on the product that would eventually become PayPal, submitted the proposal to PayPal management, under the name “x.com”, but the broader concept was eventually scrapped, in favor of a more focused PayPal product.
Both Musk and Sacks eventually left the company, but they’ve held onto that vision ever since, with Musk now carrying it over to his new X project, through which he hopes to both preserve free speech principles, and enact that original plan. Which, beyond just payments, will also, in Musk’s view, offer high-yield accounts, debit cards, check and loan services, and more.
Musk’s hope is that this will revolutionize financial transactions, by enabling low-cost or fee-free, instantaneous transactions, and in-stream payments are the first step.
But despite the UI indicators appearing in the code, X still has some way to go in making it a reality.
The company’s gained money transmitter licenses in 31 U.S. states, which are required to enable the first stage of the offering. That, of course, means that it’s still waiting for approval in 20 more states, but it’s also worth noting that X only had 15 approvals as of January this year. Which means that X could be on track to gain full approval before the year is out, opening the door for the app to offer in-stream payments to U.S. users to begin with.
From there, the platform would also need to gain payment processor licensing, which is required if X wants to facilitate direct shopping in-stream. And that would only, of course, relate to the U.S. market, with a similar application process required for each region in which X payments is to operate.
The application process is taking longer than Elon himself anticipated, and will likely delay his launch plans. In October last year, Musk told X staff that: “It would blow my mind if we don’t have [payments] rolled out by the end of [2024].”
Theoretically, that could still happen, though with only four and half months left, it does seem like X will be pressed to get in-stream payments active, and facilitating money transfers within the app.
And that’s also dependent on people actually using the option.
Because while X may well be able to facilitate payments at some stage, there’s a whole other question around whether people will actually trust Elon and Co. with their money, and ensuring that their payments are safely and reliably transferred on X.
There’s also a question of utility: Why would people actually need X payments when there are already plenty of similar, established options available in the market?
Musk’s view is that offering, ideally, fee-free transactions is key to getting people on board, and once they’re transferring money in the app, the natural extension will then be in-stream purchases and other financial offerings, using the money that’s already being shifted through X’s circuits.
But I’m not sure that users will be as open to such. And while fee-free transactions could be a lure, that would also hold significantly more appeal in markets outside the U.S., where remittance is a much bigger element of regular transactional activity.
And that expansion could be a much bigger challenge for X to facilitate.
Musk regularly chastises the leadership of foreign nations, criticizing their actions and policies on various fronts. That’s unlikely to leave them entirely receptive to X potentially becoming a player in their local financial sectors.
As such, I don’t foresee X payments having as smooth a rollout as Musk hopes.
But that’s that next step, before anything else, X needs to enact payments within the U.S.
Which, based on this new UI image, is steadily moving closer.
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