--- title: "It Looks Like Elon Musk Is Actually Building a Twitter Payment Platform" description: "Elon Musk is, per insiders, really trying build a Twitter payments platform, and plans on having it take cryptocurrency to boot. " date: "2023-02-04" modified: "2023-02-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-twitter-payments" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "crypto" - "elon musk" - "the digest" - "twitter" --- # It Looks Like Elon Musk Is Actually Building a Twitter Payment Platform ![Elon Musk is, per insiders, really trying build a Twitter payments platform, and plans on having it take cryptocurrency to boot. ]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## PayPal 2.0 It's actually happening, y'all — Elon Musk is, per insiders, really trying to turn Twitter into something akin to Venmo, and plans on building it out to take cryptocurrency to boot. According to in-the-know [sources who spoke with the *Financial Times*](), Twitter has started applying for the regulatory licenses it'd need to actually launch a payment system, and is also working on the software as well. Two anonymous sources told the *FT* that rising Musk lieutenant Esther Crawford is in the process of planning a Twitter payments structure, replete with a small team dedicated to the task. As the report notes, this push seems to be part of the controversial new owner's vision for [Twitter as an "everything app"]() reminiscent of his background as an [OG member of the PayPal mafia](). As the report notes, Twitter had already set up a "Twitter Payments LLC" in August prior to Musk's takeover, and soon after he took the reins, he began talks with the social network's investors about raising money for the venture, which would include going on a "hiring spree" to appoint talent to the effort, one of those investors told the *FT*. ## Commerce Conundrum To be clear, the concept of social networks hosting in-app payments is nothing new, as anyone who's made questionable late-night purchases on [Instagram]() or [TikTok]() can attest. What's novel here is the concept of doing so on Twitter, which until now has resisted the [e-commerce mania]() that's swept the rest of the social media industry. Beyond the questionable rationale behind incorporating payments into the [increasingly-broken bird app]() is Musk's apparent interest in not just having fiat currency as one of the means of Twitter payments, but getting crypto in the mix as well. A year ago, that would have made some sense, but given the [crypto industry's repeated nosedives]() and, you know, the state of Twitter, that seems a lot like adding kerosene to a dumpster fire. As we saw with Musk's bizarre and [ever-evolving]() "Twitter Blue" [verification gambit](), he seems to be making good on his word when it comes to the social network he now owns, so it seems that Twitter Payments could become a reality soon enough. **More on Twitter:** [*Leaked Messages Seem to Show Elon Musk Using Twitter to Punish His Enemies*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()