Elon Musk’s rebranded social media platform, X (formerly Twitter), has secured money or currency transmitter licenses in seven US states, including Rhode Island, most recently. This license not only enables processing of crypto payments but also applies to broader payments providers such as PayPal or Venmo.
X’s Expansion Beyond Social Media
Musk has previously hinted at supporting crypto on X, even briefly replacing Twitter’s bird logo with dogecoin’s dog before rebranding to X. However, these licenses enable X to offer broader payments services. Musk intends for X to be an ‘everything app,’ and the money transmitter licenses acquired since June from several states indicate his plans to support payment processing nationwide, akin to Venmo or PayPal. The Rhode Island license is necessary for permitting payments and offering crypto services.
Musk, days before his shocking offer to purchase Twitter for $43 billion in April 2022, texted, "I think a new social media company is needed that is based on a blockchain and includes payments."
The Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR) specifies that firms needing approval include those transmitting money for customers, like Western Union and PayPal. The license is also mandatory for conducting crypto exchange and custody business, except in "very rare cases" where the firm is a true 'agent' of a Rhode Island licensed currency transmitter, and money transmission is not its core profit-making business.
While the state licenses pave the way for offering crypto payments, they are not exclusive to that service. In New Hampshire, "'money transmission' means engaging in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments or stored value, or receiving currency or monetary value for transmission to another location." The state also states that "an administrator or exchanger that accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or buys or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason is a money transmitter under federal regulations..."
Western Union and PayPal possess the same state licenses as X, along with additional ones relevant to the services they offer and the states they serve.
In summary, Elon Musk's X has acquired money transmitter licenses from several states, a move that aligns with Musk's vision for X as an 'everything app.' These licenses are crucial for offering crypto services and broader payment processing services nationwide, similar to those provided by PayPal and Venmo.
