Elon Musk’s X platform has introduced the X Handle Marketplace, allowing Premium Plus and Premium Business subscribers to acquire inactive usernames.
Through the new X Handle Marketplace, eligible subscribers can acquire inactive handles, with options ranging from free to paid.
“The X Handle Marketplace is our industry-first solution to redistribute handles that are no longer in use.
Eligible Premium subscribers will be able to search and make requests, with both complimentary and paid options available,” X stated in its announcement post
The move is aimed at redistributing high-demand handles and monetizing short significant names.
Two Categories of Handles
Priority Handles: These are typically full names, multi-word phrases, or alphanumeric combinations. Premium subscribers can request these handles free of charge. Once approved, the handle is transferred to the user’s account.
However, if a user cancels or downgrades their subscription, the handle reverts to its original state after a 30-day grace period.
Rare Handles: These are short, generic, or culturally significant names, such as @Tom or @Pizza. They can be acquired through:
- Public Drops: Multiple users may apply for the same handle. Selection is based on factors like past contributions, intended use, and platform engagement.
- Direct Purchases: Selected users can acquire handles at a set price, which ranges from $2,500 to over seven figures, depending on demand and uniqueness.
Once purchased, Rare handles remain with the user even if their Premium subscription ends.
The marketplace is designed as an ongoing service to attract and retain paid subscribers. If a user secures a new handle, their old one is frozen.
However, if the user downgrades their subscription, they lose access to the new handle, which reverts to its original state after a 30-day grace period.
What you should know
- In June,the platform launched XChat, a messaging feature designed to rival WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal. The tool introduces end-to-end encryption, vanishing messages, file sharing, and audio/video calling, with beta testing already underway among paid subscribers.
- Elon Musk aims to transform X into a super app similar to China’s WeChat, integrating messaging, payments, entertainment, commerce, and even dating. The rollout of XChat, along with plans for a peer-to-peer payment system, is intended to move the platform beyond a public forum to users’ everyday digital routines. As of October 2024, it had 600 million monthly active users.
- The platform, through its ad revenue sharing program launched in July 2023, shared over $45 million with 150,000 content creators, distributing about $6.4 million per month. The platform is licensed for payment processing in 14 U.S. states.
