Social Media Platform X to Offer Investment and Trading

Elon Musk-owned social media platform X's chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, has said that users will “soon” be able to make investments or trades on the social media platform, as she outlined a push into financial services in owner Elon Musk’s quest to build an “everything app”. 

“You’ll be able to come to X and be able to transact your whole financial life on the platform,” Yaccarino said in an interview with the Financial Times at the Cannes Lions advertising festival. “And that’s whether I can pay you for the pizza that we shared last night, or make an investment or a trade. So that’s the future.” 

She added that the company was also exploring the introduction of an X credit or debit card, which could come as soon as this year. 

The proposed foray into financial services comes as Musk seeks to model the platform, which he bought in 2022, after China’s WeChat — a one-stop shop for messaging, payments and shopping.

X has already said it will be introducing X Money, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment service, with Visa as its first partner later this year.

Yaccarino on Tuesday added that X Money would launch in the US first before being rolled out elsewhere, and said that the service would allow users to buy merchandise, store value or tip creators on the platform.

“A whole commerce ecosystem and a financial ecosystem are going to emerge on the platform that do not exist today,” she said. 

A big push into financial services would, however, open X up to burdensome regulatory challenges, such as compliance with licensing and money laundering regulations.

X has struggled to return to financial health after advertisers, which account for the majority of its revenues, left in droves following Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the platform then known as Twitter. Many cited concerns about his hands-off approach to moderation, meaning their ads could be placed near objectionable content, as well as the billionaire entrepreneur’s own provocative use of the platform. 

Info source: Financial Times
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