X's head of product, Nikita Bier, recently sparked curiosity with a statement that has garnered over 677,000 views in a matter of hours. His post read, 'Crypto has had a rough year.
Maybe we should launch something to fix it.' This comes as Elon Musk's X Money is preparing to launch in April, featuring peer-to-peer transfers, bank deposits, a debit card, and cashback rewards, all built in partnership with Visa and licensed in over 40 US states. While details about the product are scarce, it is clear that it will be fiat-based, with no confirmed integration of cryptocurrency. However, X has not explicitly ruled out the use of blockchain technology.
The company recently hired Benji Taylor, former Chief Product Officer at Aave and Head of Design at Base, which has led to speculation about potential overlap with crypto-focused areas like instant payments and yield on dollar balances. The question remains whether X will choose to compete with crypto or eventually incorporate it into their payments stack. For now, Bier's statement has left the industry in a state of ambiguity, wondering if the next major development in crypto will come from within or from external platforms.