Elon Musk’s X platform has payments licenses in 7 US states

• The latest payment authorization that X acquired was from Rhode Island.
• Several US states where has secured approval for payment processing include Arizona, Maryland, and Georgia.
• Elon Musk has previously suggested that would facilitate cryptocurrency payments alongside fiat currency transactions.

The social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk and previously known as Twitter, has received payment licenses from various American states, including a currency transmitter license in Rhode Island, which the company was awarded earlier this week.

Elon Musk has indicated support for cryptocurrency on X, even momentarily substituting the former Twitter bird logo with the dog from dogecoin prior to its rebranding to last month. It remains uncertain whether the acquired licenses permit crypto payments, despite allowing for broader payment services to be provided on the platform.

Strategies to support payment processing on X

To date, the money transmitter licenses obtained are from Arizona, Maryland, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire. This development suggests that the tech billionaire may be planning to enable nationwide payment processing akin to Venmo or PayPal, a company he co-founded.

Musk has expressed intentions to evolve beyond merely social media interactions, aspiring to make it an “everything app.”

The most recent payment processing license that secured was from Rhode Island. The Department of Business Regulation (DBR) of Rhode Island noted in a FAQ document that businesses requiring approval “include those transmitting money for its customers, encompassing traditional wire transfers (like Western Union) and electronic transfers (like PayPal)” need to acquire the currency transmission license.

For businesses aiming to perform cryptocurrency exchange and custody operations, the state’s currency transmission license is essential. Fintechs are exempt only in “very exceptional situations” where the firm “is registered as a genuine ‘agent’ of the Rhode Island licensed currency transmitter… and money transmission does not constitute the primary profit-generating activity of the fintech.”

In New Hampshire, “money transmission” is defined as engaging in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments or stored value, or receiving currency or monetary value for transmission to another destination. The state’s regulations also state that “an administrator or exchanger that accepts and transmits a convertible virtual currency or purchases or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason qualifies as a money transmitter under federal guidelines.”