Elon Musk has expressed his vision for a platform X to fully replace traditional banks by the end of 2024. Addressing X employees during a company-wide call, Musk shared his ambitious plan to transform X into a financial hub overseeing all aspects of a user’s financial life.
The platform is not just about sending small sums of money to a friend but being able to manage your entire financial existence. Musk explained, “If it involves money. It’ll be on our platform. Money or securities or whatever.” He anticipates that the platform’s financial features will be so powerful that users will be taken aback.
The company’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, also sees this as a feasible goal for 2024. Current efforts are focused on securing the necessary money transmission licenses across the United States so X can offer comprehensive financial services. Musk hopes to acquire the remaining licenses required in the upcoming months.
This is not the first time Musk has discussed this vision. He previously renamed Twitter after his online bank from the dot-com era, X.com, which later became part of PayPal. Musk has plans for the platform to offer high-yield money market accounts, debit cards, checks, and loan services, aiming to enable users to “send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time.”
Musk’s strategy for X draws heavily from his past experience with PayPal. He expressed disappointment that PayPal, after becoming eBay, not only failed to implement several items from the original product roadmap but also rolled back key features.
The goal to transform X into a comprehensive hub for financial services aligns with Musk’s ambition to evolve the platform into an “everything app,” similar to super apps like WeChat in China. However, he acknowledges the significant challenges ahead, particularly convincing users to trust X with their entire financial life.
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