Stellar's Technology May Power Elon Musk's X Payments

Stellar, a blockchain platform renowned for its speed and efficiency, has been making significant strides in the payments industry, largely unnoticed by the broader public. Recent observations suggest that Stellar might be the hidden engine behind Elon Musk's X Payments, a project that has been rapidly securing money transmitter licenses in over 25 U.S. states. Despite the lack of official announcements or major headlines, the connections between Stripe, Soroban, and Rust indicate a potential integration of Stellar's technology.

Stripe, a prominent payment processing company, has a notable history with Stellar. In 2014, Twitter utilized Stripe for its early “Buy Now” features, and currently, Stripe manages USDC payouts using the Stellar network. Furthermore, Stripe has partnered with Paxos and acquired Privy, both of which integrate Stellar. These overlaps suggest that Musk's team could be leveraging this ecosystem for X Payments.

Stellar's smart contract platform, Soroban, operates on Rust, a coding language celebrated for its speed and efficiency. Intriguingly, around the same time Soroban launched, Elon Musk changed his X (formerly Twitter) username to “Gordon Rust.” While this could be a mere coincidence, it might also be a subtle nod to the tools being used behind the scenes. Jed McCaleb, the creator of Stellar and co-founder of Ripple, sold his earlier project eDonkey right before X and PayPal merged. Both McCaleb and Musk were developing early peer-to-peer platforms simultaneously, suggesting a shared vision and potential collaboration.

Elon Musk has assembled a team of engineers from Stripe and PayPal to help build X Payments. These platforms are already deeply integrated with Stellar, from real-time settlements to user experience tools. Given these connections, it is not far-fetched to imagine that Stellar could be powering X’s backend. While no official confirmation has been made, the alignment of licenses, technology stack, partners, and team members all point towards Stellar.

Stellar has been quietly collaborating with major players in the payments industry, including Circle and MoneyGram, as well as piloting CBDC programs. The infrastructure is already in place, offering fast, scalable, and open solutions. If Musk aims to bring payments into X at scale, the necessary pieces may already be in place. Stellar's backend could provide the solid foundation needed to support X Payments, enabling seamless and efficient transactions.