According to reports, Elon Musk’s Twitter is preparing to enter the payments industry. Elon Musk’s aim of turning Twitter into an “everything app” would be moved forward by the ability to send payments and potentially cryptocurrency along with tweets and DMs.
9to5Mac reports that Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has expressed interest in developing the company’s services into a full-fledged payments platform that would rival Apple Pay and PayPal. This action comes after a meeting in November where Musk briefed Twitter advertisers about his plans during a Twitter Spaces event.
Since then, the business has been working diligently on the project and has applied for the required licenses to operate as a payment platform in the U.S. Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, has been tasked with creating the framework for the new service.
Although it is anticipated that the new payment platform will support conventional currencies and payment methods, there are also plans to add cryptocurrency support. With the ability to pay in stores and send money between users, this new Twitter service would effectively put Musk in direct competition with services like PayPal and Apple Pay.
As part of his plan to launch an “everything app” that combines messaging, payments, and commerce, Musk has stated that he wants Twitter to offer fintech services like peer-to-peer transactions, savings accounts, and debit cards. It’s important to remember that Musk co-founded X.com, one of the first online banks, in 1999. X.com later merged with the world’s largest payments company, PayPal.
However, Twitter’s entry into the payments space might not be without its difficulties. The business will probably contend with fierce competition from well-established competitors and possibly regulatory scrutiny. It’s too soon to tell whether Twitter can successfully compete in this market, but consumers and industry insiders will follow the company’s entry into payments closely.
The new direction for Musk’s platform is also another possible way to shore up the company’s falling revenues. As Breitbart News senior tech reporter Allum Bokhari explained last week, Twitter’s revenue continues to nose dive.
Twitter’s advertising revenue dropped sharply in December 2022, with ad spending from top brands falling 71 percent compared to the same month in 2021.
The data, from Standard Media Index (SMI) data, comes as major corporations attempt to pressure Elon Musk’s Twitter over its restoration of prominent banned conservative accounts.
Data from the same source also found revenue fell by 55 percent in November 2022 compared to the same month in 2021.
Breitbart News will continue to report on Elon Musk’s attempts to make Twitter a workable business.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan