Warren Presses Musk Ahead of X Money Launch, Warns of Consumer, National Security, and Financial Stability Risks a Year After Trump Dismantling of CFPB

Warren Presses Musk Ahead of X Money Launch, Warns of Consumer, National Security, and Financial Stability Risks a Year After Trump Dismantling of CFPB

"If your track record operating X is any indication of how you'll operate X Money, consumers, our national security, and the stability of the financial system may be at risk."

"Your failure to operate X in a safe and responsible manner does not breed confidence in your ability to safely expand into consumer finance."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, sent a letter to Elon Musk, Owner, Chairman, and CTO of X Corp, raising concerns about the April launch of his new payments platform, X Money.

The launch of X Money comes just one year after Musk worked with Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Russ Vought to dismantle the CFPB, the very agency responsible for policing consumer financial products like X Money. In the letter, Warren emphasizes that these developments raise significant consumer, financial stability, and national security concerns that require immediate Congressional attention.

"Since acquiring Twitter and re-branding it 'X,' you have made clear that you intend to build an 'everything app' that 'will add comprehensive communications and the ability to conduct your entire financial world.' You have repeatedly identified financial services as a key part of that plan," wrote the Senator. "In 2023, you said that 'it's possible (for X) to become the biggest financial institution in the world and that 'I'm talking about, like, you won't need a bank account.' Over the course of the last several years, X has acquired 40 state money transmitter licenses ahead of the launch of X Money."

In her letter, Warren noted that Based on screenshots of the app and descriptions Musk retweeted, X Money may partner with Cross River Bank to offer some of the banking products and service. Cross River Bank was subject to a serious enforcement action by the FDIC in 2023 for unsafe and unsound practices related to fair lending. The bank is a repeat offender, as it was subject to a previous FDIC enforcement action in 2018 for unfair and deceptive practices. In addition, the X Money preview materials suggest that users can earn up to 6% APY on deposit accounts. It is unclear what risky investments, intrusive data monetization activities, or gimmicks either X Money or Cross River may intend to engage in to pay that yield when the target Federal Funds Rate is 3.5-3.75%.

Warren also raised alarm over X's record of allowing sanctioned individuals - including from Hezbollah and the Houthis - to purchase verified accounts and raise funds on the platform, as well as systemic failures to address child sexual abuse material, data privacy violations, and widespread fraud by verified users.

The Senator concluded by warning about Musk's potential role in shaping the regulatory environment for his own financial product, as X Money may include stablecoin issuance: "During your service as a senior adviser to the president, the Trump Administration worked with Congress to enact the GENIUS Act. The law includes a suspicious carveout that enables private commercial companies, like X, to issue a stablecoin without some of the required approvals and guardrails that would apply to similarly situated public commercial companies."

Ranking Member Warren warned her colleagues about this exact scenario. Last year, during the passage of the GENIUS Act, Leader Thune blocked a bipartisan amendment on the Senate floor, offered by Senators Hawley and Blumenthal, to fix this part of the bill.

Warren requested written responses detailing Musk's plans for the launch of X Money and the risks the product may pose to consumers, financial stability, and our national security, by April 21, 2026.

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