Elon Musk grilled by senator over X Money plans | The Verge

Overview

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech

Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews

Details

Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science

Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment

Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy

Gadgets Expand Laptops Phones TVs Headphones Speakers Wearables See all gadgets

Verge Shopping Expand Buying Guides Deals Gift Guides See all shopping

Streaming Expand Disney HBONetflix You Tube Creators See all streaming

Transportation Expand Electric Cars Autonomous Cars Ride-sharing Scooters See all transportation

Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Tech Close Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Tech

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is concerned about consumer safety on X Money, given Elon Musk’s ‘track record operating X.’

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Elon Musk is facing questions about his upcoming payments platform, X Money, and whether it will allow users to safely perform transactions. In a letter to Musk on Tuesday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) writes that X Money could pose a risk to “consumers, our national security, and the stability of the financial system,” citing Musk’s “track record operating X.”

Musk said X Money will launch in early public access in April. Though Musk hasn’t shared much about the platform, former X CEO Linda Yaccarino said last year that it will allow users to fund their X Wallet using Visa’s Direct service, connect to debit cards for peer-to-peer transactions, and come with an option to transfer funds to a bank account.

But Warren, who is the top Democrat on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, isn’t convinced that Musk can safely operate a payments service. The letter notes that X has faced criticism from regulators over the circulation of child sexual abuse material, including some generated by its AI chatbot Grok. It also cites a report from the Tech Transparency Project, which found that X allows users subject to US sanctions — including people affiliated with Hezbollah and Houthi officials — to pay for a Premium subscription. “This track record raises serious questions about the privacy, scams and frauds, and illicit finance risks X Money may pose,” Warren writes.

Teens sue Elon Musk’s x AI over Grok’s AI-generated CSAM

The letter also references the screenshots of X Money posted by Star Trek’s William Shatner, who recently gained early access to the platform. One of the screenshots mentions that X Money deposits are “held by Cross River Bank,” an institution Warren says faced a “serious enforcement action” by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 2023 for “unsafe and unsound practices related to fair lending.” Warren adds that “the bank is a repeat offender, as it was subject to a previous FDIC enforcement action in 2018 for unfair and deceptive practices.”

Warren calls attention to the DOGE-led dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as well, which finalized a rule in 2024 for the agency to oversee digital payment apps like X Money. “You stood to gain from the dismantling of the CFPB and its authority,” Warren writes. “Following DOGE’s incursion at the CFPB, Acting Director Vought closed the agency’s headquarters, attempted to fire almost 90% of its staff, and terminated pending lawsuits and enforcement actions against financial institutions that had violated the law, among other actions to defang the agency.” The crypto-friendly GENIUS Act also includes a “suspicious carveout” giving private companies like the X the ability to launch stablecoins, Warren writes, coinciding with X’s hint at potential plans to get involved in the crypto market.

Warren is giving Musk until April 21st to answer more than a dozen questions about X Money, including whether Cross River Bank will act as its partner, whether it plans to issue a stablecoin, and what controls the service will have to prevent scams, fraud, and illicit finance. Warren is also pressing Musk on whether X Money will “surveil and monetize consumer transaction data.”

The Verge reached out to X with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Emma Roth Close Emma Roth News Writer Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Emma Roth

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Apps Close Apps Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Apps

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Elon Musk Close Elon Musk Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Elon Musk

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Policy Close Policy Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Policy

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Politics Close Politics Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Politics

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Tech Close Tech Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Tech

Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Xbox Game Pass ‘has become too expensive,’ says Microsoft’s new gaming chief in leaked memo

Justin Bieber’s You Tube Coachella set had nothing to do with who owns his music

Read Open AI’s latest internal memo about beating the competition — including Anthropic

RAMageddon has come for Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop

Key Takeaways

Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy