X intends to launch a super app that competes with WeChat, says Musk
马斯克计划金融化X，Web3可助其实现吗？
马斯克想将X金融化，Web3能实现吗?
Elon Musk, Chairman of X (formerly known as Twitter), once again mentioned WeChat during the company’s all-hands meeting on October 26th. He reiterated his desire to create a super app with multiple functionalities. It has been exactly one year since he officially acquired Twitter.
In his speech during the meeting, Musk emphasized that Twitter will soon introduce a new payment feature that will eliminate the need for bank accounts. He expects financial services related to this feature to be rolled out by the end of 2024.
However, Twitter faces several challenges in its quest to become a super app on par with WeChat. As a content sharing platform, Twitter’s DNA is different from that of social communication apps that have integrated payment systems. Additionally, Twitter lacks high-frequency payment scenarios like e-commerce.
One notable difference from other social platforms is that Twitter, as a global social platform, has a wide user base of cryptocurrency users and embodies the Web3 culture. Musk himself is a fan of Dogecoin. If Twitter can integrate Web3 payment methods that reduce transaction friction, it has the potential to become a cross-border payment tool.
The missing payment scenarios for Twitter
“We are quickly transforming the old Twitter 1.0 into an all-in-one application…people can make payments, send messages, watch videos, make phone calls, and do whatever they like, all conveniently in one place.” Musk reiterated his high hopes for X during the all-hands meeting.
The concept of an all-in-one app is not unfamiliar to Chinese users. WeChat and Alipay are representatives of such super apps, especially WeChat, which solves various aspects of people’s lives and work, such as communication, payment, and entertainment, in one platform, surpassing foreign internet companies.
During the meeting, Musk once again praised WeChat. He said, “In China, they have achieved this concept to a certain extent, that is WeChat…But that doesn’t mean we just want to copy WeChat. We can actually create a product that ultimately surpasses WeChat. We can do some incredible things.”
When it comes to payment scenarios, Musk even expressed the intention for X to replace bank accounts. “I’m referring to an individual’s entire financial life. If it involves money, it will be on our platform—whether it is money or securities or anything else. This is not just about transferring $20 to a friend. What I mean is that you will no longer need a bank account.” He revealed that relevant services will be launched by the end of next year.
In fact, foreign tech giants including Meta, Uber, and Snapchat have all tried to create super apps, but ultimately failed to sustain them.
In 2020, Snapchat partnered with Square to launch Snapcash, a mobile payment service for users. Later, Snapchat allowed third-party access to provide Minis features, allowing users to play games and engage in other activities within the app.
Facebook, the predecessor of Meta, introduced payment features in its messaging app Messenger and added e-commerce functions to the photo and video sharing platform Instagram to create more payment scenarios.
Facebook also attempted to transform WhatsApp into a super app in markets such as India.
However, for American users, it has become a habit to use different apps for different services. Therefore, it is not easy to achieve what WeChat can do in overseas markets.
Some industry analysts point out that successful payment wallets are usually built on core high-frequency payment scenarios. WeChat created its own payment foundation through peer-to-peer transactions, allowing users to send money to contacts directly through the app. Alipay relies on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms like Taobao and Tmall to form a widely accepted payment ecosystem for both merchants and consumers.
These platforms also pay great attention to the development of offline face-to-face payments. When WeChat and Alipay were popular, Western payment solutions like Google Pay and Apple Pay had not yet entered the Chinese market.
In comparison, Twitter lacks payment scenarios. Despite Musk’s ambitious vision, without e-commerce, livestreaming commerce, and other scenarios, Twitter faces numerous challenges in developing its presence in the payment industry.
Musk must create a core payment scenario within the app. Currently, Twitter is attempting to achieve this with its X Blue subscription service (formerly Twitter Blue), where users pay for exclusive content and creators receive dividends through an advertising revenue-sharing model.
However, the usage rate of these paid features has been relatively low. According to reports, only about 640,000 people registered for the Blue service in the first half of the year, and more than half of early Blue subscribers have already canceled their subscriptions.
The big question is whether they can convince a large number of X Blue users to start using a social media app as a payment tool.
Furthermore, in Western markets, users are accustomed to finding the services they need in Apple and Google’s app stores, and this service system has deeply ingrained itself, making it extremely difficult to change.
Can Web3 become the breakthrough?
In exploring innovation in the payment industry, we cannot overlook Twitter’s apparent advantage in cryptocurrency culture and the Web3 field.
Under the leadership of former CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter has already made significant progress in the Web3 field. The introduction of Twitter Spaces and NFT products exemplify this trend. These efforts may be one of the decisive factors behind Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. Compared to the explorations of Google, Amazon, and Meta in the NFT and cryptocurrency field, Twitter is more forward-thinking.
After Musk took over, Twitter was renamed X, interestingly, X.com was the predecessor of the payment giant PayPal. This is no coincidence. In 1999, Musk invested $12 million with former CEO of Intuit, Bill Harris, to establish X.com. X’s profound presence in the Web3 field can be seen from its recent release of the USD stablecoin, PYUSD.
This year, X’s progress in the payment and financial fields has accelerated significantly.
In late August, X received a cryptocurrency payment license issued by the state of Rhode Island in the United States. This means that it can provide storage, payment, and trading services for cryptocurrencies to some users. Before that, Twitter had already obtained fiat currency payment licenses in six US states.
On April 13th, X also launched the Cashtags feature, which allows users to view stock market data directly on the platform, with data provided by TradingView.
Meanwhile, Twitter has also partnered with the online trading platform eToro. Known for its automatic copy trading function, eToro allows investors to follow and replicate the trades of top traders on the platform, including stocks, funds, and 14 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
From a broader perspective, X’s active presence in the cryptocurrency and Web3 domains, along with Musk’s understanding of this field, may be the breakthrough to transform X into a super app.
According to an investor document obtained by The New York Times, Musk predicts that X will generate $1.2 billion in revenue from the payment industry by 2028, and he expresses his determination to reduce reliance on advertisers.
Some optimistic analysts believe that Musk’s plan for X can be seen as a rebirth of Libra. Libra once provided more than one billion Facebook users with a cryptocurrency wallet and planned to issue a stablecoin with global usability. However, the plan failed due to strict scrutiny from the US Congress. “But Twitter can learn from this, and Musk doesn’t have the political baggage, unlike Mark Zuckerberg.”
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