The X Money launch in the US begins today for X Premium and Premium Plus subscribers, according to 9to5Mac, moving Elon Musk’s payments project beyond its earlier invite-only beta. The rollout matters because X is no longer just asking users to post, subscribe and watch videos inside the app. It now wants them to park money there too.
X’s payments site describes X Money as a digital wallet with peer-to-peer transfers, putting it in the same general consumer-payments lane as services such as Venmo. The product also includes a metal Visa card that users can customize with their X username, according to X’s materials.
The service supports Apple Wallet, according to 9to5Mac, and X advertises free money transfers on the platform. That makes the pitch straightforward: keep cash inside X, move it to other users, and spend through a Visa card when the outside world intrudes.
What is X Money?
X Money is X’s payment platform: a wallet for holding funds, sending money to other users and spending through a linked Visa card. In plain terms, it is Musk’s attempt to bolt consumer banking-style features onto the social network he bought as Twitter.
The interest-rate pitch has some fine print. X Money advertises “up to” 6 percent APY, but X’s support page says Premium Plus subscribers are eligible for that rate. Standard Premium subscribers must deposit a specified amount to receive what X calls a boosted 6 percent APY, according to the same support materials.
APY, or annual percentage yield, is the yearly return on deposited funds after compounding. The phrase “up to” is doing work here: it signals that the headline rate is conditional, rather than a flat promise for every user with a balance.
Who gets access first?
The broader rollout is limited to users in the United States who pay for X Premium or Premium Plus, according to 9to5Mac. X Money had previously been restricted to an invite-only beta, so today’s launch is wider access, not a full opening to every X account.
Musk said in April that “early public access” for X Money was launching, according to a post on X cited by 9to5Mac. The current rollout follows that earlier promise by a few months.
The payments push has been part of Musk’s plan for X for some time. During an X staff meeting in 2023, Musk said, “If it involves money, it’ll be on our platform,” according to reporting from The Verge at the time. That is the clearest version of the product strategy: payments are not an add-on in Musk’s X plan, they are one of the load-bearing walls.
Regulators and lawmakers have already been circling. Earlier this year, Senator Elizabeth Warren raised concerns about X Money, writing that it could create risks for “consumers, our national security, and the stability of the financial system,” according to The Verge. X is now testing that concern in the market, with paying users first in line.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.
