‘Black Swan’ Author Nassim Taleb Believes Elon Musk’s X Money is ‘Much Smarter’ Than Bitcoin

As confirmed by Elon Musk, the financial service X Money will enter early access in April this year. The announcement sparked strong resonance, but the most interesting reaction came from a fresh tweet by Nassim Taleb, the author of “The Black Swan” and someone who can be described as a “philosopher of risk.”

Taleb publicly supported Musk’s project and, as expected, contrasted it with BTC. For him, the launch seems not just to be a social feature of X (formerly Twitter), but a realization of the concept of private currencies. 

Based on his previous statements and the ideas he promotes in his books, several pragmatic points explain why he contrasts X Money with Bitcoin.

Why “Black Swan” author says X Money is “smarter” than Bitcoin

The first is competition instead of monopoly. Taleb believes that the state should not be the sole issuer of money, and in his view, private companies such as X should issue their own payment instruments and compete with each other. In the end, the winner will be the one whose money proves more stable and more convenient for transactions.

The second is functionality versus speculation. Taleb has described X Money as “smarter than Bitcoin.” As he has often criticized Bitcoin, in his opinion, it failed as a currency due to volatility since it is difficult to fix the price of goods in it. If X Money is linked to banking infrastructure and fiat, this would make it suitable for everyday purchases.

Finally, there is infrastructural resilience. Unlike the crypto market, which Taleb has repeatedly called fragile, Musk’s project relies on an existing base of hundreds of millions of X users and on legal status, with licenses reportedly obtained in more than 40 U.S. states.

What should be expected in April? No confirmed features have been announced, but various rumors point to direct peer-to-peer transfers within the social network, virtual and physical Visa cards for payments, and a promised yield of up to 6% annually on account balances.