Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
A major earthquake affecting 600 million crypto users and a $3 trillion crypto market has arrived!
Just yesterday, Nikita Bier, the product head of the X (Twitter) platform and a Solana advisor, stated that X is the best source for financial news and is currently developing Smart Cashtags. This feature will allow users to specify specific assets or smart contracts when posting market updates on X; users can click on these tags in their timeline to view real-time prices and all information related to the mentioned assets. The feature is planned to be iterated and feedback collected before its public release next month.
The news sent shockwaves through the market. Some believe this move signifies that the X platform is realizing Elon Musk's grand vision of a "super app"; others think that due to its large user base and crypto community, X will become a direct competitor to many centralized exchanges (CEX); and some speculate, based on accompanying images, that X will guide massive liquidity and attention to ecosystems like Solana.
When Web2 giant platforms set their sights on the crypto market, is it a new "paradigm shift in internet finance," or just another "future pie" like the unresolved payment gateways? Odaily Planet Daily will explore this matter from the perspectives of product analysis and ecological layout.
When X transforms into a "Smart Asset Window": Web2 products' dimensionality reduction attack on the crypto circle
Based on the available information, let's first discuss the specific details of this feature update on the X platform.
According to the images shared by Nikita Bier, the so-called Smart Cashtags primarily aim to "provide real-time financial data based on user timelines," aggregating relevant information about the mentioned assets; when posting tweets, users can specify specific assets (such as stocks, BTC, meme coins, etc.) based on their ticker codes; clicking on the corresponding code will allow users to view its real-time price and may provide trading support (Buy & Sell interface).
Additionally, the images hint at more than just feature displays; they also mention corresponding assets—besides major assets like BRKB (Berkshire Hathaway stock) and BTC, meme coin BONK from the Solana ecosystem and the yet-to-launch ecological token BASE from the Base ecosystem are also listed, leading to speculation that the initial support for X's "Smart Cashtags" feature may be limited to the Solana and Base ecosystems.
In the comments section, Nikita Bier responded (or hinted) at several hot questions raised by netizens:
- When asked, "Does this mean we will be able to trade using self-custody wallets or even CEX widgets on X in the future?" he responded with "👀" (implying to stay tuned);
- When asked, "Which backend will this feature connect to find assets?" he responded that "the API we use is almost for assets minted in real-time on-chain."
Market reactions show a spectrum: some cheer, others scoff
It is worth mentioning that the news quickly received enthusiastic responses from the Solana official team, BNB Chain team members, Solana ecosystem projects, Base ecosystem projects, and the Crypto Twitter (CT) community. However, the reactions were not always overwhelmingly positive, as some were skeptical about the launch of this feature.
The Solana official team directly posted to "ride the wave"—"Look, BONK is in the picture!" This indicates that "the X platform will allow users to post Solana tokens and view charts and news." Subsequently, after Nikita Bier's tweet stating "my investment targets are in my profile," the Solana official team responded with "me too," effectively capitalizing on the increased interest from outside the community.
With Solana leading the way, BSC naturally followed suit. Early this morning, during discussions among community users about whether the X platform's feature update would connect to BNB Chain, Binance founder CZ responded with "Minor shareholders, let's wait and see. 😆" When some speculated that X's move might indicate a battle for liquidity among public chains, CZ commented again that "there's no need for exclusivity; multiple chains can be supported. Coexistence." He also shared a previous tweet where Musk expressed gratitude for CZ's support during the Twitter acquisition here. This morning, BNB Chain's growth executive Nina Rong posted that she had sent a private message to Nikita Bier, the product head of X and Solana ecosystem advisor, expressing BSC's willingness to support the Smart Cashtags project.
Helius CEO mert from the Solana ecosystem infrastructure project also appeared in the comments section shouting, "Is there a Solana central infrastructure? Contact me!"
Base ecosystem project Limitless and Base ecosystem information account Base Posting also made an appearance in the comments, expressing both curiosity about the BASE token and anticipation for this new feature on the X platform. The official Bitget account also expressed curiosity. Binance.US stated, "Sounds very useful." Crypto journalist Laura Shin tweeted, "Is this X's step towards becoming a universal app?"
Opinions in the crypto community are even more diverse: Sentient's Asia-Pacific head Anita believes that "the X platform will become a killer for CEXs like Binance"; crypto KOL Crypto Kanda commented, "It's a complete copy of Binance," and later tweeted that based on past experiences with X's poor group chat features, he is not optimistic about X making a wallet or trading application. Others stated that X has almost ruined cryptocurrency, even worse than LinkedIn; and some said that as long as you mention cryptocurrency in a tweet, the post will be bombarded by spam like a nuclear bomb.
CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju also expressed a similar viewpoint—he stated that the X platform is suppressing the influence of cryptocurrency-related posts while failing to curb the surge of automated spam, punishing legitimate users. Data shows that automated activities related to the keyword "crypto" have surged, generating over 7.7 million posts in a single day. Ki Young Ju pointed out that the X platform cannot distinguish between automated accounts and real accounts, and the paid verification system has become a tool for mass messaging by bots.
In the midst of promoting the popularization of cryptocurrency assets while limiting the dissemination of cryptocurrency content, the X platform is also seeking its own balance.
Web2 Products VS Crypto Applications: Dimensionality Reduction Attack Under Network Effects
It must be said that the news brought by Nikita Bier, who joined X to lead product development in mid-2025, may not meet everyone's expectations, but this change indeed constitutes a "dimensionality reduction attack" on cryptocurrency applications from a product perspective, specifically reflected in the following three aspects:
First, it is the network effect of Web2 giant products based on a massive user base. Currently, the X platform has about 400-600 million monthly active users, which is roughly equivalent to the overall scale of the cryptocurrency market (approximately 600 million users in 2025). In the traditional internet realm, user numbers represent traffic data such as views, likes, and comments. The Smart Cashtags feature on X, like crypto applications, becomes a channel and corresponding window for users to access funds, capital, and liquidity, which is a weak point for crypto applications.
Second, it is an important step for the X platform to realize the "super app." In the past, overseas markets have adhered to the principle of "niche is king," where an application focuses on a specific niche market. This has been a significant reason for the scalable development of paid SaaS and niche markets abroad. The success of domestic internet giants like WeChat, Alipay, and Douyin (TikTok) in application products has provided new ideas for the development of Western internet platforms—an "ALL IN ONE" one-stop platform that can cover users' diverse needs from life to work, from payments to shopping, and from entertainment to socializing. Musk has repeatedly stated his desire to transform the X platform into a super app like WeChat, and based on X's previous moves to open payments, integrate with Visa, and provide creators with incentives, starting with assets like crypto and stocks could be a masterstroke. After all, who wouldn't want to buy and sell assets they are bullish or bearish on while scrolling through news on X?
Third, this move may become the starting point for "new finance" in the Western internet space. It is well known that due to the highly developed overseas banking system and credit card system, overseas internet users often prefer credit card payments for advanced consumption. Firstly, they have not experienced the impact of trends like P2P, internet finance, and microloans; secondly, they tend to shop at physical stores rather than online e-commerce; and thirdly, they have no direct motivation to use cryptocurrency payments, with stablecoin payments and PayFi yields being completely unfamiliar to many. The launch of the Smart Cashtags feature on the X platform may bridge many of these information gaps, quickly meeting the online financial loan needs, online shopping needs, cryptocurrency payment needs, and stablecoin yield storage needs of X platform users.
Let’s not rush to deny the potential for X's future development; looking at the current product status of WeChat, the X platform is not without transformation possibilities.
Comparison of Product Analysis Between X Platform and WeChat: Public Domain Social Media vs. Semi-Personal Social Platform
Currently, the components of WeChat's product mainly include the following three major areas:
First, the familiar and semi-familiar social sections. This part mainly includes features like adding friends, creating group chats, and Moments;
Second, the original content publishing and distribution platform section. This part mainly includes features like the public account platform and video account platform;
Third, the internet finance applications and life services section. This part mainly includes features like WeChat stores, WeChat red envelopes, WeChat wallet (WeChat Pay), and life services.
In comparison, as a public domain social media platform, the X platform currently focuses on two main product functions:
First, the user account, follow list, and corresponding timeline section. This is the main component of public domain social media, where users are both content producers and consumers. Additionally, figures like Trump, U.S. government departments, and capital institutions use the X platform as one of the mainstream channels for external communication and public relations.
Second, the "community features" and "group chat features" that users have long complained about. This part represents the social attributes of social media, but the current technical setup and product experience of the X platform are difficult to satisfy.
Therefore, the launch of "Smart Cashtags" may become an important step in building the "X platform ecological economic system," similar to how "WeChat red envelopes (wallets) constructed the WeChat ecosystem." On one hand, this feature is closely integrated with content publishing, content dissemination, and content discussion; on the other hand, it will serve as an infrastructure project for the X platform to fill in gaps in capital inflow, investment consumption, and e-commerce traffic, meeting users' diverse needs.
Of course, the specific effectiveness of the feature implementation and user experience still needs time to verify.
Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the introduction of this feature comes right after Musk's previous announcement of “upcoming open-source new X platform algorithms”, which may have a broader impact on the dissemination of cryptocurrency-related content and the quality of spam control than most people imagine, and the effects may last longer.
However, some hold a pessimistic view, as the concept of an asset display window is not new. Whether it was the Blinks feature previously launched by Solana, the token code price display built into the OKX wallet, or the numerous browser plugins providing trading entry points, none have achieved high-frequency use and widespread adoption in the crypto market. Whether the X platform, as a news information distribution center, can change this status quo from the platform functionality side remains uncertain.
Let’s not forget that we have yet to see the promise made by former X CEO Linda Yaccarino in early January 2025 that “X platform payment feature X Money will be launched within the year”!
And it has been over two years since Musk first revealed in 2023 that “the payment feature will be launched in mid-2024”!
It must be said that in terms of application product updates and iterations, Western internet platforms lag far behind domestic internet companies!
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