X Money Beta Launch: How Elon Musk Plans to Turn X into a Financial Platform
Elon Musk is once again betting on scale. After transforming Twitter into X and integrating artificial intelligence through xAI, he is moving to the next level creating his own payment system. The announcement concerns the launch of an external beta version of X Money, which is already operating in internal testing within the company. Formally, this is only a beta-testing stage. Strategically, however, it is an attempt to build the financial core of the entire X ecosystem.
Musk is not hiding his intentions. X Money is positioned as a key element in the strategy of turning X into a universal app that will combine a social network, financial services, and other digital tools. During a presentation for xAI employees, he stated:
“We expect that within the next month or two we will begin limited external beta testing, and then launch it for all X users worldwide. This is actually meant to become the place where all money is stored, the central source of all monetary transactions. This will truly become revolutionary.”
This quote captures the full ambition of the project. It is not about an auxiliary feature, but about an attempt to create financial infrastructure within the platform.
At this stage, X Money operates as a closed internal beta. The next step is limited external testing. After that, a gradual global rollout to all X users is planned. The tentative timeline is March–April 2026. This indicates that the company is moving from concept to implementation, although the full functionality has not yet been disclosed.
Audience Scale as an Argument
Musk also emphasized platform metrics:
- approximately 600 million monthly active users;
- more than 1 billion app installations;
- over $1 billion in annual recurring revenue.
These figures serve two purposes. First, they demonstrate the potential market for a financial product. Second, they signal stability to investors. However, audience size does not automatically translate into trust in a financial service.
X Money as Part of a Broader Strategy
The payment service is not being developed in isolation. In the coming months, the company plans to launch a separate X Chat application, enabling messaging without logging into the main X app, as well as screen sharing and multi-user video calls. A closed ecosystem is taking shape:
- communication;
- financial transactions;
- digital tools;
- business integration.
This is a model that has already proven effective in China with WeChat. Musk is attempting to adapt it to the global market.
The Regulatory Barrier
The most complex aspect of this initiative is not technology, but regulation. A global payment service requires:
- financial licenses across multiple jurisdictions;
- compliance with anti-money laundering regulations;
- customer verification procedures;
- strict cybersecurity standards.
These factors will ultimately determine the pace of X Money’s expansion.
Is This Truly a Revolution
Musk calls the initiative “revolutionary.” Yet the market still lacks clarity about the service model. Will it function as a full digital wallet? An integration with banks? An internal platform balance? Without detailed specifications, it is difficult to assess its potential impact. Nevertheless, the attempt to establish a financial hub within a social network is a logical continuation of X’s monetization strategy.
As early as September 2025, Musk noted that X Money was already operating internally. In November, he spoke of an imminent launch. Now he refers to an external beta version. This reflects gradual progress and confirmation that the project has moved beyond concept.
X Money is more than a payment feature. It is an attempt to transform X into the financial center of users’ digital lives. If fully implemented and properly licensed, X could move beyond being a social network and become an infrastructure platform. For now, it remains an ambitious initiative in the testing phase. But if successful, it could shift the balance in the digital payments market. Musk is not betting on a single feature, but on control over financial flows within his own ecosystem. That will define X’s trajectory in the coming years.












