Elon Musk's X Money App Begins Limited Beta Testing with Cashback and Yield Features

Elon Musk's new payment application, X Money, has initiated limited external beta testing this week, showcasing features such as cashback and yield on deposits. According to Cointelegraph, Hollywood actor William Shatner, known for his role as Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series, is among the beta testers invited to participate. Screenshots shared by Shatner reveal that X Money users can earn cashback on specific card purchases and receive a 6% annual percentage yield on deposits. Deposits within X Money are held by Cross River Bank, a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, ensuring insurance coverage up to $250,000 per person. X Money is part of Musk's ambitious vision to transform X into an 'everything app,' encompassing payments, private messaging, AI chatbot services through Grok, creator content, identity, and more. Musk described the app as a 'game changer,' aiming to centralize all monetary transactions. Shatner has utilized the $42 sent to him by Musk to raise funds for charity, auctioning 42 X Money beta invites for $1,000 each with X's permission. Each winning bidder receives a $25 welcome gift card from X and $1 initially sent to Shatner by Musk. Following the first auction, Shatner and X conducted a second round, auctioning another 166 beta invites at the same price. Eligibility requires users to be U.S. residents over 18 with an active X account in good standing. Despite Musk's known appreciation for Dogecoin (DOGE), there is no indication of crypto integration into X Money. The app marks Musk's return to the payment space, having founded X.com in the late 1990s before its merger into PayPal. In recent years, X has obtained money transmitter licenses in over 40 U.S. states and registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to facilitate peer-to-peer payments on the platform.