X Reportedly Explores USDC Stablecoin for Creator Royalty Payments
Key Takeaways
- •X is reportedly considering paying creator royalties in Circle's USDC stablecoin, but the discussions are ongoing and no final decision has been reached.
- •The exploration coincides with X replacing its Revenue Sharing programme with a new Original Content Rewards Programme for creator compensation.
- •USDC, the second-largest dollar stablecoin by market capitalisation after Tether's USDT, is issued by Circle, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025 under the ticker CRCL.
- •The GENIUS Act, signed into US law in July 2025, established the country's first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins, creating a clearer environment for a potential rollout.
- •Stablecoin adoption among mainstream payment players is growing, with YouTube adding PayPal stablecoin payouts and Stripe closing its roughly $1.1 billion acquisition of Bridge in early 2025.
Social media platform X is reportedly exploring the use of the USDC stablecoin to pay royalties to influencers and content creators, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The talks are ongoing, and no final decision has been made. X did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
USDC is a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar and issued by Circle. It ranks as the second-largest dollar stablecoin by market capitalisation after Tether's USDT, and Circle listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2025 under the ticker CRCL, giving the issuer a public-market profile as stablecoins move from crypto trading tables into payments infrastructure.
The reported exploration comes as X, formerly Twitter and controlled by Elon Musk, revamps its creator compensation model, replacing its Revenue Sharing programme with an Original Content Rewards Programme.
Stablecoin payments could offer X a faster and potentially cheaper way to make cross-border payouts to creators, particularly those outside traditional banking markets. A rollout would also land in a clearer U.S. regulatory environment than in earlier years, after the GENIUS Act signed into law in July 2025 established the country's first federal regulatory framework for payment stablecoins.
Musk's SpaceX already uses stablecoins for some cross-border payments linked to its Starlink service. In earlier related developments, X (Twitter) acquired 7 currency transmitter licences in the United States, while African neobank Payday became the official payment processor for SpaceX Starlink in Rwanda.
If adopted, stablecoin payouts could further extend crypto's role from trading into everyday payments and creator economies. The reported move echoes developments elsewhere in the industry, with YouTube quietly adding PayPal stablecoin payouts to its $100 billion creator economy. PayPal has issued its own PYUSD stablecoin since 2023, and Stripe closed its acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm Bridge in early 2025 in a deal reported at about $1.1 billion, underlining how mainstream payment providers are building stablecoin rails into their systems. For now, the talks remain exploratory; the concrete signals to watch are whether X confirms a rollout and how the new Original Content Rewards Programme actually pays creators.
Source: BitcoinKE
