Elon Musk Pushes Forward with Twitter Payments Vision
Social media giant, Twitter owner Elon Musk is pushing forward with his payment vision to integrate cryptocurrency payments. According to sources, a core team is working on setting up the infrastructure for a payment platform, while Twitter has started applying for regulatory approvals and registrations.
Cryptocurrency Payments for Twitter
Elon Musk seems to be pushing forward with his
plans to integrate a payment system into Twitter. According to sources cited by the Financial Times (FT), Elon’s
trusted man, Esther Crawford, is working on the logistics and has formed a
small core team to build the payment platform. On an earlier occasion, Musk had
stated his intention to create a payment system. In June 2022, he mentioned the integration of a payment platform
for cryptocurrencies with Twitter.
"I
think it would make sense to integrate payments into Twitter so that it’s easy
to send money back and forth, and fiat currency as well as crypto —
essentially, whatever somebody would find useful," Musk detailed during
the first all-hands meeting with Twitter’s staff.
Twitter Seeking Regulatory Approvals
The
FT revealed on January 30, 2023, that Twitter is also seeking regulatory
registrations and state licenses. Sources familiar with the subject have
disclosed that Twitter has started applying for financial licenses in several
states. The FT publication also reports that Musk has appointed Crawford as the
CEO of Twitter Payments. The payment system will kick
off with fiat currencies before including cryptocurrencies at a later stage.
Before
the takeover of Twitter, former CEO Jack Dorsey had introduced a beta crypto tipping service and NFT
features in 2021. In April 2022, Twitter partnered with payments giant Stripe
to pilot crypto payments. In November 2022, Twitter registered with
the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to legally process funds.
During a Twitter Spaces audio podcast, Musk said he could see Twitter offering
money market accounts and debit cards.
However,
senior equity analyst and payments expert Lisa Ellis from MoffettNathanson LLC told the FT that
companies face several regulatory hurdles when becoming payment companies,
causing many to quit after initial attempts. "Many tech companies
experiment and then give up," Ellis said. "They see the long-term investment
and risk as a burden, with potential fines for issues and the requirement for
continuously licensed compliance infrastructure."
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