From Scrolling Tweets to Buying Tokens, Will "Smart Asset Tags" Turn X into a Crypto "Trading Terminal"?

Original｜Odaily（@OdailyChina）

Author｜Wenser（@wenser 2010）

A major earthquake affecting 600 million crypto users and a $3 trillion crypto market is here!

Just yesterday, Nikita Bier, X (Twitter) platform product lead and Solana advisor, posted 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-related content on X; users can click these tags in their timeline to view real-time prices of the related assets and all information mentioning that asset. 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 advancing Elon Musk's grand vision of a "super app"; others think that thanks to its massive user base and crypto community, X will become a direct competitor to many CEXs; still others, looking at the accompanying image, speculate that X will direct massive liquidity and attention to on-chain ecosystems like Solana.

When a Web2 giant platform sets its sights on the crypto market, is it a new "Internet financial paradigm shift," or just another "future promise" like the long-pending payment gateway? Odaily will explore this matter from the perspectives of product analysis and ecosystem layout in this article.

When X Transforms into a "Smart Asset Window": Web2 Products' Dimensional Strike on the Crypto Layer

Based on available information, let's first discuss the specific details of this X platform feature update.

Judging from Nikita Bier's post image, the so-called Smart Cashtags primarily aim to "provide real-time financial data based on the user's timeline," with aggregated display of information related to mentioned assets; when posting a tweet, users can specify specific assets (such as stocks, BTC, Meme coins, etc.) by their ticker code; clicking the corresponding code allows direct viewing of its real-time price, and trading support (Buy & Sell interface) may also be provided.

Furthermore, what sparks imagination in the image is not just the feature demonstration, but also the mentioned targets—besides major assets like BRKB (Berkshire Hathaway stock) and BTC, Solana ecosystem Meme coin BONK and the Base ecosystem's yet-to-launch token BASE are also listed. This has led to external speculation that the X platform's "Smart Cashtags" feature might initially support only the Solana and Base ecosystems.

In the comments section, Nikita Bier also responded to (or hinted at) several hot topics raised by netizens:

• When asked, "Does this mean we'll be able to trade on X using self-custody wallets or even CEX widgets in the future?" he responded "👀" (implying wait and see);
• When asked, "Which backend will this feature connect to for finding assets?" he responded, "The API we use is almost for assets minted on-chain in real-time."

Market Reactions Show Diverse Views: Some Applaud, Some Scoff

It's worth noting that the news quickly garnered enthusiastic responses from Solana's official account, BNB Chain team members, Solana ecosystem projects, Base ecosystem projects, and the CT (Crypto Twitter) circle. Of course, the reaction wasn't universally positive; some are not optimistic about the launch of this feature.

Solana's official account directly posted to "hitch a ride"—"Look, BONK is in the picture!", signifying that "X will allow users to post Solana tokens and view charts and news." Subsequently, after Nikita Bier posted a tweet responding externally with "My investments are in my bio," Solana's official account posted again saying "Same here," effectively riding the wave for some mainstream exposure.

With Solana setting the precedent, BSC naturally followed suit. First, early this morning Beijing time, when community users discussed whether the X platform feature update would integrate BNB Chain, Binance founder CZ responded: "Minor shareholder, we'll see. 😆" When someone suggested this move by X might signify a battle for public chain liquidity, CZ commented again: "No need to be exclusive, right? Can support multiple chains. Coexist." He later also shared the corresponding tweet where Musk expressed gratitude for his support during the Twitter acquisition. This morning, Nina Rong, BNB Chain Growth Executive Director, posted that she had sent a private message to X platform product lead and Solana ecosystem advisor Nikita Bier, offering BSC's support for the Smart Cashtags project.

Helius CEO mert, a Solana ecosystem infrastructure project, also appeared in the comments shouting: "Any Solana-centric infrastructure? Contact me!"

Base ecosystem project Limitless and Base ecosystem news account Base Posting also "showed their faces" in the comments, expressing curiosity about the BASE token and anticipation for X's new feature. Bitget's official account also posted expressing curiosity. Binance.US said it "sounds useful." Unchained crypto journalist Laura Shin posted, "(Is this X) taking a step towards an everything app?"

Views within the crypto circle were more diverse: Sentient APAC Head Anita believed "X will become a killer for CEXs like Binance"; crypto KOL 加密韦陀 commented: "A complete copy of Binance," and later posted that based on past poor experiences with X's group chat feature, he is not optimistic about X building wallets or trading apps. Someone else said X has almost ruined cryptocurrency, even worse than LinkedIn; another added that as soon as you mention cryptocurrency in a tweet, the post gets bombarded with spam like a nuclear attack.

CryptoQuant founder Ki Young Ju expressed a similar view—he stated that the X platform is suppressing the reach of cryptocurrency-related posts while failing to curb the surge of automated spam, effectively punishing legitimate users. Data shows automated activity related to the "crypto" keyword has 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 users, and the paid verification system has become a mass-posting tool for bots.

In the wavering between promoting cryptocurrency asset adoption and restricting cryptocurrency content dissemination, the X platform is also seeking its own balanced path.

Web2 Products vs. Crypto Apps: Dimensional Strike Under Network Effects

It must be said that the news brought by Nikita Bier, who joined X in mid-2025 to oversee products, may not meet everyone's expectations, but this change indeed constitutes a "dimensional strike" against crypto applications from a product perspective, specifically manifested in the following three aspects:

First, the network effect of Web2 giant products based on massive users. Currently, the X platform has approximately 400-600 million monthly active users, which is equivalent to the total size of the crypto market (around 600 million people in 2025 data). If in the traditional internet space, user numbers represent traffic metrics like views, likes, and comments, X's Smart Cashtags feature, like crypto apps, becomes an entry channel and corresponding window for the funds, capital, and liquidity users possess—and this is precisely the weakness of crypto applications.

Second, an important step for the X platform towards realizing the "super app" vision. Traditionally, overseas markets have believed in "segmentation is king," with one app focusing on one niche vertical market, which is also why paid SaaS and niche markets can develop on a large scale overseas. However, the success of domestic internet giants like WeChat, Alipay, and Douyin (TikTok) in application products has provided new ideas for Western internet platforms—an "ALL IN ONE" one-stop platform covering user needs from life to work, from payments to shopping, from entertainment to social interaction. Musk has repeatedly said he "wants to transform the X platform into a super app like WeChat." Considering X's previous moves to open payments, integrate Visa, and provide incentives for creators, starting with assets like crypto and stocks might be a masterstroke. After all, who wouldn't want to buy or sell assets they are bullish or bearish on while browsing news on X?

Third, this move could become the starting point for "new finance" in the Western internet space. As is well known, due to the highly developed banking and credit card systems overseas, internet users there are accustomed to credit card payments for advance consumption. Firstly, they haven't experienced the impact of waves like P2P, internet finance, or microloans; secondly, they prefer shopping at physical offline stores over online e-commerce; thirdly, they lack direct motivation to use cryptocurrency payments, let alone stablecoin payments or PayFi yields, which many have never even heard of. The launch of X's Smart Cashtags feature might bridge these numerous information gaps in one step, quickly meeting X platform users' diverse needs for online financial loans, online e-commerce shopping, cryptocurrency payments, stablecoin storage yields, and more.

Don't rush to deny X's future development possibilities. Looking at WeChat's current product state, the X platform is not without potential for transformation.

Product Analysis Comparison: X Platform vs. WeChat - Public Social Media vs. Half-Social Platform

Currently, WeChat's product composition mainly includes the following three major parts:

First, the close-friend and semi-close-friend social section. This mainly includes functions like adding friends, creating group chats, and Moments.

Second, the original content publishing and distribution platform section. This mainly includes Official Accounts platform, Channels platform, and other functional areas.

Third, the internet finance application and lifestyle services section. This mainly includes WeChat Stores, Red Packets, WeChat Wallet (Lingqiantong), and lifestyle services.

In comparison, as a public social media platform, X's current main product functions are concentrated in two major parts:

First, the user account, following list, and corresponding timeline section. This is the main component of public social media. Users are both content producers and consumers. Furthermore, figures like Trump, US government departments, and capital institutions use X as one of the mainstream channels for external communication and PR.

Second, the often-criticized "Community" and "Group Chat" features. This part represents the social attributes of social media, but X's current technical setup and product experience leave much to be desired.

Therefore, the launch of "Smart Cashtags" might, like "WeChat Red Packets (Wallet) building the closed-loop economic system of the WeChat ecosystem," become a crucial step in constructing the "X platform ecosystem economic system": on one hand, the feature is closely integrated with content publishing, dissemination, and discussion; on the other hand, it will serve as the infrastructure project for X to complete the links of capital inflow, investment/consumption, and e-commerce traffic, meeting users' diversified needs.

Of course, the actual functional implementation and user experience remain to be verified over time.

Additionally, it's worth noting that this feature proposal comes right after Musk's earlier announcement about "open-sourcing the new X platform algorithm soon." Its impact on the future reach of cryptocurrency-related content and the quality of spam control is far more extensive than most imagine, and its effects might also be more long-lasting.

However, some remain pessimistic. After all, the concept of an asset display window isn't new. Whether it's Solana's previously launched Blinks feature, OKX Wallet's built-in token ticker price display, or the trading entry points provided by numerous browser extensions, none have achieved high-frequency use or widespread adoption in the crypto market. Whether X, as a news and information hub, can change this status quo from a platform functionality perspective remains unknown.

Let's not forget, we haven't even gotten a taste of the "X platform payment feature X Money to launch within the year" pie painted by former X CEO Linda Yaccarino in early January 2025 yet!

And it's been over 2 years since Musk first hinted in 2023 that "payment features would launch by mid-2024"!

It must be said, when it comes to application product iteration, Western internet platforms lag far behind domestic internet companies!