(Kitco News) - Despite reports that Twitter has halted its development of a crypto wallet, the social media platform appears determined to integrate payments based on recently filed paperwork with the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
According to a report in the New York Times, Twitter filed registration paperwork with FinCEN last week that will allow the platform to process payments. The move comes as the company's new CEO Elon Musk is looking for additional income streams that can help bring the platform back into profitability following his purchase of the social media site last month for $44 billion.
Musk has already made several significant overhauls to the service in his quest for profitability, including the addition of a new subscription service for Twitter blue and widespread layoffs that saw half of the company receive pink slips last week.
Any business that is interested in conducting money transfers, exchange currency, or cash checks is first required to register and get approval from FinCEN and must report any suspicious transactions to the agency.
Twitter's new CEO is no stranger to the payments industry after helping to found X.com, an online bank that would eventually rebrand to become the digital payments company PayPal.
Musk has frequently mentioned the possibility of incorporating payments into Twitter and has, on numerous occasions, teased the possibility of integrating the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) as a payment option on the platform.
The billionaire is well known for saying that he wants to transform the social media platform into an "everything app," and the addition of payments would be a crucial piece in the advancement of this goal.
According to Musk, the everything app would be modeled after the Chinese social media platform WeChat, which offers instant messaging and mobile payments. Citizens in the country use the app for all manner of daily activities, from finding news to hailing cabs and ordering takeout.
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Previously, Twitter added a tipping feature that allows users to make small donations to creators on the platform using cash or cryptocurrency. It has also allowed creators to charge a subscription fee for exclusive content, such as newsletters, with a small cut of the proceeds going to the platform.
Musk is under intense pressure to bring the company into profitability due to $13 billion in loans, which were used to finance Twitter's purchase. The outstanding loans come with an annual interest payment north of $1 billion, so it's imperative for the platform to increase its revenue.
Other strategies to boost earnings that are being explored by Musk and his advisers include the introduction of a fee that would allow users to send direct messages to celebrities on the platform; the addition of "paywalled" videos; and the aforementioned $8 per month charge for a blue verification check mark.
