Footage has resurfaced of Elon Musk from 1999 after reports of the billionaire launching a physical X Money card.

Elon Musk and the Art of Controlled Demolition | by David Paul Kirkpatrick | Medium

The then-26-year-old can be seen standing in front of an ATM, where he shared his banking vision with CNN Perspectives.

“This is an ATM, and what we’re gonna do is transform the traditional banking industry,” he explained, as the words “Elon Musk is starting an internet bank” appeared on screen.

“I do not fit the picture of a banker,” he added. “Raising $50 million is a matter of making a series of phone calls, and the money is there.”

For viewers, the broadcast added in text how “X.com would later become PayPal,” with the online payment platform rebranding after a merger with online bank Confinity to become what we know as PayPal.

In 2017, Musk re-acquired the X.com domain and later used it to rebrand after he completed the acquisition of Twitter. Then, in October 2022, Musk revealed his “X” plans to turn the platform into an “everything app” with banking and video content.

Fast forward to this year, and X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced in January that it will be introducing X Money, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment service, with Visa as its first partner, Financial Times reported.

 

 

But this won’t just be digital, with mobile app intelligence firm AppSensa finding that there are plans to create physical X Money bank cards.

It appears there have been updates to the X app, with new strings of code related to an X username customisable physical debit card, with different options like card shipping, activation, setting up a PIN and reporting a card lost or stolen, TechCrunch reported.

For example, “physical_card_option” and “physical” were included in various strings.

There’s also a hint that X may be trying to work with other partners since MasterCard and Amex are each listed as supported payment card brands.

We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled, as Yaccarino said earlier this year, this would be the “first of many” announcements for X Money in 2025.

Elsewhere, Tesla’s robotaxis hit the road – but it’s ride price that’s gone viral, and Musk’s neighbours say ‘send him to Mars’ as even they are tired of him.