X to Launch 'Smart Cashtags' for Trading
The social media platform X is expected to launch "Smart Cashtags" within weeks, a feature that will enable users to trade stocks and cryptocurrencies directly from their timelines. The move is seen as a potential liquidity driver for the crypto market.
- This feature is an expansion of X's existing partnership with eToro, which provides real-time charting and data from TradingView for a wide range of stocks and cryptocurrencies. In 2023, X handled over 1.4 billion posts related to trading and investing, marking a 54% increase year-over-year. - X will not operate as a brokerage or handle trade execution directly. Instead, "Smart Cashtags" will link out to licensed third-party trading partners who will manage order execution and asset custody. - The underlying API for "Smart Cashtags" is designed to function in near real-time and will support not only major listed assets but also smaller-cap tokens that are minted on-chain. - The launch is part of a larger financial services initiative called "X Money," a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment service being developed in partnership with Visa. X Money has completed internal testing and is expected to open to a limited external beta within one to two months. - To support its financial ambitions, X's payments subsidiary has secured money transmitter licenses in over 40 U.S. states. However, the company withdrew its application in the key financial market of New York. - The push to integrate financial services is a core component of Elon Musk's long-term strategy to transform X into an "everything app," similar to China's WeChat. This vision dates back to Musk's 1999 venture, X.com, which merged with and became PayPal.
