- Dogecoin jumped 8% on the news that Twitter is moving ahead with its plans to integrate payments
- Twitter CEO Elon Musk has spoken often about including DOGE as a payment option
- However, fiat currencies are the platform’s priority
Twitter is applying for regulatory licenses and is developing technology to introduce payments on its platform as part of CEO Elon Musk’s plan to increase revenue, with Dogecoin still anticipated as one of the methods of payment. According to the Financial Times, payments on Twitter are a crucial part of Musk’s plan to generate new revenue streams and offer fintech services such as P2P transactions, savings accounts, and debit cards as part of an “everything app” that combines messaging, payments, and commerce. Dogecoin jumped 8% on the news, given that Musk has previously talked up the possibility that DOGE payments are involved in the process.
Musk Pushing Ahead with Payments
Musk co-founded X.com, an early online bank, in 1999, which later became PayPal, and clearly he sees payments as a key element of the future of Twitter. The company’s $5bn annual advertising business has declined since its $44bn acquisition by Musk in October, due to concerns over management and content moderation, leading Musk to seek new areas of revenue.
Twitter registered as a payments processor with the US Treasury in November and has begun applying for state licenses. The aim is to have US licensing completed within a year and then move on to seeking approvals globally. Twitter established a subsidiary, TwitterPayments LLC, in August of last year and Elon Musk recently appointed Esther Crawford, Twitter’s director of product management, as CEO of TwitterPayments.
Fiat First, Then Crypto
Implementing Musk’s vision will involve overcoming technological challenges, compliance obligations, and gaining consumer confidence, with Musk hoping for Twitter to offer more than just payments, including ways for users to directly reward creators, buy items, and pay each other. A leaked early pitch deck showed Musk’s goal of generating $1.3 billion in payment revenue for Twitter by 2028.
Dogecoin holders may have to wait a little longer for their day to come however, as the FT says that Musk wants the platform’s payment system to be primarily fiat-based with the potential for crypto functionality in the future.
