According to a report on Thursday, Twitter or X is in talks with financial data providers to potentially add stock trading and other financial services to its app. However, Elon Musk denied this claim, saying, "No work is being done on this."
The report, citing anonymous sources, said X sent proposal requests to major financial data firms in recent weeks asking for ideas on integrating financial content, real-time stock data, and trading capabilities.
The requests asked interested companies to specify how much money they would commit to building these features. It is unclear which, if any, firms submitted proposals.
Meanwhile, when asked about the report, Elon Musk said he was unaware of work being done to add financial services. However, given Musk"s enthusiasm for digital assets like meme-coin, Dogecoin, X could feasibly allow crypto trading if it launches in-app trading, especially for relatively assets like Bitcoin.
No work is being done on this to the best of my knowledge
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 3, 2023
This is not the first time the idea of building a trading hub within X has been floated. Earlier this year, social investing platform eToro announced plans to offer crypto and asset trading directly in the then-Twitter app through a partnership.
Last year, Musk stated his goal of turning X into an "everything app" like China"s WeChat. The addition of financial services would be a major step in that direction. The company has hinted at plans to add features like payments and e-commerce under Musk"s leadership.
The potential expansion into financial services comes as X aims to boost its revenue through new premium features after advertisers pulled back spending amid concerns over content moderation.
X rebranded from Twitter last week, changing the app"s iconic blue bird logo to the letter "X." Recently, we reported that the X logo caused Microsoft Edge to flag the site as suspicious. Chromium-based browsers are displaying warnings about the new stylized X icon, treating it as a potential phishing threat.