Key takeaways:
- The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter, has recently received payment licenses from several US jurisdictions, including a currency transmitter license in Rhode Island.
- If X introduces payment functions, it is still unknown precisely what financial services will be made available.
The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk and formerly known as Twitter, has recently received payment licenses from a number of US jurisdictions, including a currency transmitter license in Rhode Island earlier this week.
Companies doing financial services on behalf of users linked to sending and receiving money, which includes both fiat and crypto assets, are legally required to have the license. X will be able to custody, transfer, and trade digital currency thanks to the authorization.
The Nationwide Multi-State Licencing System (NMLS) records that X’s application for a Rhode Island currency transmitter license was accepted on August 28.
The money transmitter licenses obtained since June from Arizona, Maryland, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire indicate the tech billionaire may have plans to support nationwide payment processing similar to Venmo or PayPal, a company he co-founded.
In Elon Musk’s quest to make X an “everything app” that accepts cryptocurrency and fiat payments, the action represents a significant advancement.
Although it has been claimed that the planned X payments feature will initially only support fiat money, Musk is said to have told X developers to create the platform’s payments system in a way that will allow for the addition of cryptocurrency capabilities in the future.
The authorization follows X obtaining licenses as a money transmitter in Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire, all of which were authorized on July 5. With its most recent license, X now has transmitter licenses in seven different American states.
In the event that X introduces payment functions, it is still unknown precisely what financial services will be made available.
According to people with direct knowledge of the company’s intentions, X would first provide PayPal-like fiat currency transaction services with room for future incorporation of cryptocurrencies.
