Nikita Bier, X's head of product, may have hinted at the company's upcoming plans. In a recent post that garnered over 677,000 views in a matter of hours, Bier stated, 'Crypto has had a rough year. Maybe we should launch something to fix it.' This statement comes after Elon Musk confirmed that X Money will be launched in April, featuring peer-to-peer transfers, bank deposits, a debit card, and cashback rewards, all built in partnership with Visa and a licensed subsidiary in over 40 US states.
However, the details of the product's underlying technology remain unclear. While the available information suggests a fiat-based product with no confirmed crypto functionality, X has not explicitly ruled out the possibility of incorporating blockchain technology.
The company's design overlaps with areas where crypto has been focused, such as instant payments and yield on dollar balances. Recently, X hired Benji Taylor, Aave's former Chief Product Officer and Head of Design at Base, which may indicate a potential overlap with crypto. Bier had been following Taylor's work for years and praised one of his past products as one of the best-designed he had seen. The question remains whether this overlap will lead to competition or integration between X and crypto.
X may choose to maintain a fiat-only payments stack, competing with crypto for users seeking yield and convenience, or it may eventually incorporate crypto technology behind the scenes, leveraging blockchain infrastructure without directly exposing users to it. For now, Bier's statement adds to the ambiguity surrounding X's plans, leaving the crypto community to wonder whether the next major catalyst will come from within the industry or from external platforms like X.