X’s ‘Everything App’ Plan Faces a Major Test of User Trust

• X is preparing to roll out a suite of financial services, including investment, trading, payments, and even an X credit or debit card
• The social media platform has over 600 million monthly users
• Competition is bound to happen as Sam Altman’s startup World is also developing its own ‘everything app’

It was revealed today that X is preparing to roll out a suite of financial services, including investment, trading, payments, and even an X credit or debit card. This is all under the banner of what CEO Linda Yaccarino and Elon Musk refer to as an ‘everything app.’

It was already announced that X will debut X Money, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment system, starting in the US in partnership with Visa. 

From the looks of it, the users will reportedly soon be able to buy, trade, and manage investments directly through X, and there are plans to issue an X-branded card to complement the ecosystem.

That said, with these announcements, many are wondering if X can actually bring crypto trading to the masses. There are some reasons why this could be true, but there are also a few big ‘ifs’ present.

The Bull Case: A 600 Million User On-Ramp

On the pro side, X has over 600 million monthly users, an amount that is unmatched in crypto platforms today. With that in mind, if X’s crypto features are seamlessly integrated, it could very well eliminate the friction most first-timers face when signing up to traditional exchanges like Binance or Coinbase.

Plus, with the platform aiming to combine payments, social media, content, and trading, users are more likely to engage with crypto as part of their everyday habits.

The Bear Case: A Crisis of Trust and Technology

Still, there are several issues that may arise as ideation is one thing and execution is something completely different. For starters, X has been known to have technical issues with slow loading, posts not showing up, and similar. Also, there are challenges relating to the public perception (to put it mildly) since Musk’s takeover and if users don’t trust the platform with content, they’ll hesitate even more with money.

On a more serious note, rolling out financial services, especially crypto, involves KYC, anti-fraud measures, and hacking prevention. This is of utmost importance for the platform as failure in any of these could erode trust instantly. Not to mention that the same audience that uses X for memes and politics might not automatically trust it as a bank.

Additionally, X is bound to have a competition. For instance, OpenAI’s Sam Altman’s startup World is developing its own ‘everything app.’

In the end, it’s probable that X could onboard millions into crypto, but as it stands now, it all depends on trust and execution.