• by Colin Kirkland , January 31, 2023

Under the watch of CEO Elon Musk, Twitter is moving forward with plans to disrupt the payments industry by introducing payments across the struggling microblogging platform. Musk hopes to use fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar, but may incorporate cryptocurrencies later on.

According to a recent report by the Financial Times, Twitter has been applying regulatory licenses and building out software needed to enable payments on the app.

Anonymous sources told the publication that Musk expects crypto functionality to be added in the future.

Musk wants to turn Twitter into an “everything app” by enabling fintech services like peer-to-peer transactions, savings accounts and debit cards. 

Dogecoin (DOGE), a cryptocurrency that Musk has publicly backed since 2019 (Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla Inc. accept Dogecoin for select merchandise), saw a 24-hour spike after the news broke Monday, but then saw a dip of 4%.

Musk originally introduced payments for Twitter to investors in May, arguing that the platform could generate up to $1.3 billion by 2028.

Twitter, however, only generates around $15 million annually from payment tools such as tipping and shopping.  

Still, the company is applying for regulatory licenses to operate across the U.S., including registering with the U.S. Treasury as a payments processor and applying for state licenses, hoping to complete the process within a year.