A pair of Democratic lawmakers in New York are asking the state’s Department of Financial Services to halt X owner Elon Musk from starting a payment system on his platform.
Assemblyman Micah Lasher and state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal asked the department not to issue a money-transmitter license to X Corp., the Musk venture that is looking for authorization from all U.S. states to launch the X Money payment system. New York could become a roadblock for Musk’s company.
“What we’re talking about is nothing less than Elon Musk becoming a permanent part of the country’s financial infrastructure — with access to enormous quantities of consumer data, including the data of New Yorkers,” Lasher, a Democrat from Manhattan, told Gothamist. “I think it would be grossly irresponsible and contrary to the law.”
In the letter, the lawmakers said Musk has “engaged in a pattern of reckless conduct, in both business and government, that has put consumers at risk and demonstrated a lack of character and general fitness.”
They pointed to his work with the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has played a major role in the government laying off thousands of federal employees to eliminate “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
New York state law outlines that the agency should consider a money transmitter applicant’s “financial condition and responsibility, financial and business experience, character and general fitness” and issue a license only if it believes the applicant will do business “honestly, fairly, equitably, carefully and efficiently … and in a manner commanding the confidence and trust of the community.”
X Money is one piece of Musk’s plan to make X an “everything app.” He envisions a future in which users can facilitate financial transactions, in addition to using it as a social media and video sharing platform.
X users are already able to send money, including digital assets, to others through its tipping feature.
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Before Musk closed on his purchase of the platform for $44 billion in 2022, he had shown interest in creating his version of a platform similar to China’s WeChat, which is an all-encompassing platform that supports video chats, messaging, streaming, and payments. Musk has been planning a “super app” since the 1990s, when he launched a startup called X.com, which later merged into what became the X social platform.
If Musk is successful, X Money could be a competitor to Venmo, Zelle, and Apple Pay. In January, X Corp. announced it had partnered with Visa.
