X is piloting a new program called “Video Kickstart Bonus” that pays creators up to $3,000 for posting original vertical video content on the platform, according to a post from Allegra Jacchia, who works on Creator Product at X.

“We’re doubling down on video on 𝕏,” Jacchia wrote, announcing the invite-only pilot. To qualify for the bonus, creators must post at least 15 videos across 15 different days within a 30-day campaign window. Videos must be vertical, under three minutes, and original content made by the creator. Footage already shared on other platforms is eligible as long as it carries no watermarks.

Source: @allegrajacchia

According to in-app details on the program, the bonus requires no performance thresholds, meaning payment is not tied to views or engagement, only to the volume and cadence of qualifying posts. The program also serves as a pathway into X’s existing Original Content Rewards tier, which the in-app messaging describes as unlocking additional monetization. Enrollment in “Video Kickstart Bonus” closes October 30.

The pilot lands four months after X rolled out Live Studio, a livestreaming command center that lets creators schedule streams, restrict viewership to specific audience segments, and track concurrent viewers, viewer countries, and device data in real time. X paired that launch with a $1 million creator fund for the current cycle, though the platform has not detailed how those livestreaming payouts will be structured. The two initiatives reflect X’s broader effort to expand video monetization across livestreaming and short-form content.

Both initiatives build on Creator Subscriptions 2.0, which X introduced earlier this year with Exclusive Threads, a streamlined two-step subscription setup, a consolidated earnings dashboard, and a “Paid Partnership” label for sponsored content. X framed that update around helping creators build what the company called “sustainable incomes and deeper connections with their audiences.”

Taken together, the three rollouts point to a platform trying to convert video, long a weaker format for X relative to TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, into a direct monetization lever rather than a traffic-driving extra.

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