Elon Musk Hires William Shatner To Promote Controversial New X Feature

Elon Musk has been talking about turning X into a great WeChat-style app since he bought the platform in 2022. Since then, he has suggested adding a financial module to the platform. Now, more than three years later, that dream is almost here with X Money — currently rolling out to a limited number of users. But ahead of the upcoming launch, Musk has found an unexpected promoter. William Shatner – yes, Captain Kirk himself – has been all over X recently promoting X Money.

Throughout the campaign references to the number “42.” One screenshot shared by Shatner showed Musk sending him $42 through the X Money app. That’s an oddly specific number: it’s actually a reference from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a cult sci-fi novel by Douglas Adams.

With Musk’s blessing of $42, Shatner then sold 42 beta invites to X Money for $1,000 each. All proceeds go to Shatner’s charity that supports children’s and veterans organizations. Each winner gets beta access and a $25 welcome bonus from X. They also get a $1 transfer from the first payment Musk sent Shatner.

Besides the auction, Shatner also shared screenshots of the app itself. Those feature a nice straightforward interface with Account, Activity, and Rewards tabs, as well as buttons for deposits, peer-to-peer transfers, and payment requests. On the financial side, beta advertises a 6% APY on deposits, which is more than most traditional banks currently offer. Deposits are held by Cross River Bank and insured up to $250,000 per person by the FDIC. Auction winners will reportedly be among the first to receive a metal Visa debit card personalized with their X handle. That comes with zero foreign transaction fees.

William Shatner says that his participation in promoting this service is for people in need. He even joked in that post that if he was the ‘poster child’ for X Money, he’d be diving into Teslas and Starlink stocks right now.

That said, the wide release of X Money did not come without criticism. Back in May 2025, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Congressman Micah Lasher wrote to the Treasury Department asking them to block X from getting a license to transport money in the state. As mentioned in the letter, the biggest concern was the conflict of interest regarding Musk’s position of running the DOGE (Department of Government Operations).

The letter said he could have access to confidential information about competitors in the payments space, because of that position. Notably, X’s history of data breaches was also flagged, as well as the rollback of several security features following Musk’s acquisition in 2022 – such as reducing guards around adult content.

Now it is worth mentioning that Musk has resigned from his official position at DOGE. That removes some of the teeth of the argument, as the organization itself is still technically operational until July 2026.

As for New York, according to a report by The Information, X reportedly withdrew his transfer request to the state late last year and has been in talks with officials to address their grievances — though those talks have reportedly not progressed much. Now, X Money has remittance licenses in over 40 other states. But outside of New York – one of the most important financial markets in the country – turning the stage into one of the most high-profile applications is off to a rough start.