Users of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) will soon be able to make trades and investments through the platform’s app.
In an interview with the Financial Times, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said that the expansion into trading and investments was part of owner Elon Musk’s vision of making X the "everything app."
Yaccarino also noted that the company was looking into releasing a debit or credit card later this year. Visa has been working with X on offering direct payments, according to reports earlier this year.
Key Takeaways
- X will soon offer trading and investment services through its "super app."
- The strategy follows China’s WeChat app, which offers payments, shopping, and other services in addition to messaging and social networking.
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and changed its name to X, has repeatedly talked about turning it into a "super app" in the mould of China’s WeChat. This could include a variety of services, including payments, shopping, messaging, and social networking.
“A whole commerce ecosystem and a financial ecosystem is going to emerge on the platform that does not exist today,” Yaccarino said.
A former NBC Universal advertising executive, Yaccarino was hired as CEO back in 2023, following a mass departure of advertisers from the platform over concerns about inappropriate content. Initially, X filed a lawsuit against the World Federation of Advertisers, accusing them of a conspiracy to cost the site revenue through the boycott. Since then, however, according to Yaccarino, 96% of the company’s advertising clients have returned, and it is about to record its first year of advertising revenue growth since the Musk acquisition.
Kalshi changes mind on X
While plans for trading and payment systems appear to be on the agenda at X, a potential deal with prediction markets provider Kalshi was over before it began.
In May, Kalshi founder Tarek Mansour had posted on social media a statement, which he later deleted, saying that the alleged collaboration with X will “further take prediction markets mainstream.” The statement also pointed out that both Kalshi and xAI have ties to President Donald Trump, as his son, Donald Trump Jr., is a strategic adviser to Kalshi.
However, following the retraction, a Kalshi spokesperson stated that the details of the partnership had not been mutually agreed upon.
Kalshi out, Polymarket in
While Kalshi appeared to have second thoughts about partnering with X, rival company Polymarket had no such doubts. Polymarket is now the social media site’s official prediction market partner.
The full details of the partnership have not been agreed upon, according to reports, but an outline has been developed. The plan is for the two companies to work on an integrated product that will give Polymarket data from X for live insights, and notes from Grok, X’s AI chatbot.
“Combining Polymarket’s accurate, unbiased, and real-time prediction market probabilities with Grok’s analysis and X’s real-time insights will enable us to provide contextualised, data-driven insights to millions of Polymarket users around the world instantaneously,” said the founder and CEO of Polymarket, Shayne Coplan.
The deal could represent some welcome news for Polymarket, which has faced a series of difficulties, including an FBI raid last year and being forced out of Belgium, Singapore, and France by local regulators.
