Musk wanted X to handle your entire financial life.

Elon Musk envisioned X as the center of users’ financial world, managing everything related to money. He planned for these features to launch by the end of 2024, telling X employees during an all-hands meeting that people would be surprised by “just how powerful it is.”

“When I say payments, I actually mean someone’s entire financial life,” Musk stated, according to audio of the meeting obtained by The Verge. “If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform. Money, securities, or whatever. So, it’s not just like sending $20 to a friend. I’m talking about, like, you won’t need a bank account.”

X CEO Linda Yaccarino echoed Musk’s vision, calling it a “full opportunity” for 2024. Musk added, “It would blow my mind if we don’t have that rolled out by the end of next year.”

Reviving the Original X.com Vision

The company had been working to secure money transmission licenses across the U.S. to offer financial services. Musk told employees he hoped to obtain the remaining approvals “in the next few months.”

Musk had long discussed his plans to transform X into a financial hub. He even rebranded Twitter to X, the name of his online banking startup from the early 2000s, which eventually merged into PayPal. His vision included high-yield money market accounts, debit cards, checks, and loan services, aiming to allow users to “send money anywhere in the world instantly and in real-time.”

“The X/PayPal product roadmap was written by myself and David Sacks in July 2000,” Musk said during the call. “For some reason, once PayPal became part of eBay, they not only didn’t implement the rest of the list, but they actually rolled back key features. So PayPal today is actually a less complete product than what we envisioned 23 years ago.”

Challenges Ahead: Could X Gain Users’ Trust?

Transforming X into a financial services hub aligned with Musk’s goal of making it an “everything app,” similar to China’s WeChat, which integrates shopping, transportation, and more.

However, Musk faced major hurdles. Convincing users why they needed X for financial management was one challenge. Earning their trust to handle their entire financial life was another.