Documents Show How Musk’s X Plans to Become the Next Venmo
State license applications give new insight into the company’s plans, as well as its financial woes during the Elon era.
A major plank of Elon Musk’s plan for expanding X into an “everything app” has been grafting a payments network onto its main social networking service. The details of this project have remained blurry, but dozens of documents the company has submitted to state regulators—which have not previously been made public—give a new view of the business. Those plans include a Venmo-like payments feature that will let users store money on their X accounts, pay other users or businesses, and even buy goods and services in physical stores.
Musk has often said that X needs revenue other than advertising, which has historically made up more than 90% of sales. He’s also said that X could become the largest financial institution in the world. The documents show that X doesn’t plan to charge significant fees for its payment services, though, and the company has told regulators it sees offering payments as a way to boost its business through “increased participation and engagement” on the app.