Elon Musk’s Twitter Applies for US Payment Regulatory License

• Elon Musk’s Twitter has started applying for a license to operate a regulated payments business in the US.
• Twitter is looking for an alternative source of revenue alongside advertising.
• Musk had earlier hinted at his plans to offer fintech services.

Elon Musk‘s social media behemoth Twitter has started the work of applying for regulatory licenses in the US to enter the payment business, according to the latest report from the Financial Times.

The new initiative is part of the social media platform’s effort to diversify and generate new revenue for the company. According to the report, Twitter is also designing payment software that will introduce payments across the social media platform.

According to the details provided by the people familiar with the matter, a small team has begun the work of curating the framework needed to implement the payment system. Twitter has also begun the work of getting the regulatory side in order before the payment service is launched.

Details provided by these individuals also mention that the social media giant has begun to apply for state licenses prior to the launch of its payment services. Musk has earlier hinted at his plans to develop an “everything” app. This plan includes savings accounts, debit cards, peer-to-peer transactions, etc.

However, it is unclear when the whole process will be finalized and when Twitter will be able to launch its payments business. Musk also hinted that he wants the payment system to be in fiat initially. Musk is likely to incorporate cryptocurrencies at a later stage.

Following the announcement, Dogecoin surged by 7% for a short period of time. The surge was short-lived, as it quickly fell to $0.0854. However, at press time, the meme coin has spiked in value by 6.23% and is trading at $0.09375 according to CoinMarketCap data, with a spike in 24-hour trading volume of 189%.