Elon Musk's X Acquires Currency Transmitter License, Could Introduce Crypto Payments: Report

The currency transmitter license is a legal requirement for money transfer companies.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by David Delima | Updated: 30 August 2023 16:41 IST

Elon Musk's X Acquires Currency Transmitter License, Could Introduce Crypto Payments: Report

Photo Credit: Reuters

In July Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire also granted money transmitter licence to X

Highlights

Elon Musk acquired X (formerly Twitter) last year
Musk wishes to make X an ‘everything app’
X users predict DOGE could become the currency of X in the coming times

Elon Musk's X has acquired a currency transmitter licence for the microblogging platform in a US state, suggesting that the social networking platform formerly called Twitter could soon support processing payments in crypto as well as fiat currencies. This licence gives a company the right to facilitate custody, transfer, and exchange of digital currencies. Musk, who acquired X last year, has said he wants to transform it into an "everything app". The billionaire envisions the X as a platform that would let users communicate, share, and also process payments in the future.

According to a CoinTelegraph report, X has acquired a currency transmitter licence in Rhode Island. The currency transmitter license is a legal requirement for money transfer companies in the US, as per the report.

:thread: 1/4

The popular social media platform X (formerly Twitter) is set to introduce cryptocurrency payments to its nearly 450M active users. X recently obtained a Rhode Island Currency Transmitter License, allowing it to store, transfer, and exchange digital assets. pic.twitter.com/EK8huDrSBy
— 0x.daVinci (:blue_heart:,:orange_heart:) (@0x_daVincii) August 30, 2023

It is said that the payments feature on X may initially only allow payments in fiat currencies. In the later stages of its upgrade, however, the feature could allow the transfer and exchange of cryptocurrencies as well.

The crypto market responded positively on Wednesday. The valuation of the crypto sector spiked overnight by four percent, to bring its value to $1.09 trillion (roughly Rs 90,07,269 crore), according to CoinMarketCap.

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Musk's favourite altcoin — Dogecoin — also spiked in value by over three percent in the backdrop of this news to trade at $0.066 (roughly Rs. 5.42). Strangely enough, Musk himself has not posted anything about the company acquiring the license.

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It is notable that Rhode Island is not the only US state to have granted this money transmitter licence to X. Earlier this year, Michigan, Missouri, and New Hampshire among other US states also approved the licence for X, making Rhode Island the seventh state to have done so, according to the CoinTelegraph report.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Elon Musk, X, Twitter, Crypto Payments

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More