Oscar Levant observed, "There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line." Watching Elon Musk operate some days, you wonder how many of those lines he's working to erase. Each new idea, company, or initiative is either stark raving mad or another innovative touch of brilliance. His latest venture: renaming Twitter to "X" and transforming it into a universal platform for "everything."

Musk's new idea is to "blowtorch" the Twitter name off the building and create a comprehensive digital platform. Musk's vision for the next phase of Twitter encompasses everything: banking, shopping, private and secure messaging, and more. Business Insider noted that it all hearkens back to Musk's start in Silicon Valley, pushing new payment technology with PayPal.

The company name, "X," comes from Musk's early days of trying to give PayPal that name. The payment technology falls into his wheelhouse of building PayPal and other financial tools. And the "everything" nature of the app is similar to what we're seeing get created by Meta, Apple, Google, and all the other big names. It's easy to laugh at Musk because everyone sees what Twitter is, but he's right about the technological trends.

Musk's Vision for Twitter.

Twitter Chief Executive Linda Yaccarino "described X as including audio, video, messaging and banking capabilities." Twitter is expanding the social media offerings of the platform in new directions. Elon Musk said he believed Twitter could "become the biggest financial institution in the world."

Musk has described his vision as a company that's "a digital town square where anyone from presidential candidates to ordinary users can break news; a platform that offers digital-payments features; a place where online content creators can build a following and make a living, and more."

The Elon X Factor.

It's too soon to tell if he will succeed with this shift. If Musk only had one successful business launch, it might even make sense to doubt him here. But he's had numerous successful companies that are either ongoing or got bought out by competitors and partners. Tesla is poised to dominate beyond cars and become the electric charging station of choice for most automakers. SpaceX can land reusable rockets, the only company capable of performing the feat. And Musk helped build PayPal.

However, 'X,' the 'all-in-one' app, is a whole different ball game. It's fair to have a skeptical view on this idea purely due to its scope. But while it's easy to doubt Musk, it's worth observing that he's right about the trend for large tech companies and social media in general.

Elon Musk vs Big Tech: The Battle for Digital Dominance.

On a long-term basis, we're transitioning from credit and debit cards being the primary driver of payment services to cell phones. During the pandemic, we got a flash of this where contactless payment systems blossomed into broad acceptance and use. The trend has slowed with the end of the pandemic, but the direction is still apparent.

PayPal, Apple, and Google are in a tight battle over who controls the "mobile wallet." Other companies like Venmo, Zelle, and Meta Pay are attempting to offer similar services with varying degrees of success. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and other social media sites are also trying to make it easier for customers to shop on their platforms.

Twitter, or now "X," is not just another player in the tech industry. Like Meta/Facebook, this new phase of Twitter demands serious attention due to its vast user base. If Musk can convert a portion of that audience that grows over time, he'll unlock a new revenue stream for the company that didn't exist.

X Marks Twitter.

Musk even has ways of incentivizing this by leveraging the Tesla charging station network (users of X wallet could get special rates) or better payouts to Twitter content creators if they use his banking services. If Musk can make this new Twitter more profitable for content creators to live on, like YouTube, he'll have a leg up on Zuckerberg's empire, which offers very little compensation or features.

The point is, Musk isn't crazy on the idea. If he were, he'd be the only person in the space trying to invent something new. Instead, he's trying to leverage Twitter to fulfill his long-held dream of an everything app. PayPal offered the banking part of his dream, but it's still limited to that discrete area. Meta Pay has yet to win much ground, and the other big tech companies are still vying for market share.

The industry's future is still up for grabs for the company that gets it right. Is that Musk's "X" company? That remains to be seen, but the idea itself isn't insanity. Figuring out if Muck can pull it off will be the objective measure of whether this is a stroke of genius. I wish him all the luck because that's what makes capitalism great. We get all the options in the world.