Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has announced a big change coming to the social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Starting June 27, hashtags will no longer be allowed in advertisements on the platform.
Musk described hashtags as an “esthetic nightmare”, suggesting that they make ads look messy. He believes that with X’s advanced technology and AI tools like Grok, the platform can now organize and show content better—without the need for hashtags. This move is aimed at making ads look cleaner and improving how users discover content through AI, not through hashtags.
Starting tomorrow, the esthetic nightmare that is hashtags will be banned from ads on 𝕏
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 26, 2025
However, this change only affects ads. Regular users can still use hashtags in their posts to help others find and follow topics.
What Else Is Happening on X?
X is also planning to launch a new financial service called X Money, a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payment system. It will first launch in the United States later this year, with Visa as its first partner. The goal is to allow users to buy products, store money, and even tip content creators directly on the platform.
According to CEO Linda Yaccarino, this is just the beginning of a full financial and shopping ecosystem being built within the app.
Why These Changes?
These updates come as X continues to face financial challenges. Since Musk bought Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and renamed it X, many advertisers have stopped using the platform. Ads were the main source of revenue for Twitter, so the company is now looking for new ways to make money, such as digital payments and commerce.
