Elon Musk’s X to partner Visa for X Money payments

Elon Musk is progressing toward enabling payment functionality for X users, with the feature expected to launch in 2025.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced that the social network will partner with web2 payments giant Visa to enable digital transactions directly within the platform, often referred to as the “online town hall.”

Dubbed X Money, the initiative aims to advance Musk’s vision of an “everything app” by integrating digital payments into the social media platform. While rumors suggest X Money could include cryptocurrency features, neither Musk nor Yaccarino has provided confirmation.

However, Visa’s extensive involvement in crypto and Musk’s established ties to digital assets hint that blockchain-based payment capabilities might accompany the rollout. Visa already collaborates with crypto exchanges on real-time web3 deposits, non-fungible token purchases, and crypto-backed debit cards, among other features.

Before Musk bought Twitter, now X, the platform supported donations via the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning network and Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. The features remain available two years into Musk’s ownership. Also, Musk is a public fan of Ether-based meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE), and his automobile maker Tesla holds BTC on its balance sheet.

Expanding X’s payment functionality to include broader digital asset operability could intensify competition with Telegram. The messaging app is deeply integrated with The Open Network and allows developers to deliver native crypto services to its nearly one billion global users.

Notably, it’s unclear if Musk and Yaccarino will greenlight crypto integrations for X Money or support TON-like development on the social network.