Elon Musk's X hires crypto-savvy design lead as X Money payments push inches closer

Benji Taylor, former CPO at Aave Labs and design head at Coinbase's Base, brings self-custody wallet and DeFi product experience to the social media platform.

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What to know:

• Elon Musk's X has hired crypto veteran Benji Taylor as its new head of design, tying his role to both xAI and SpaceX.
• Taylor previously founded Los Feliz Engineering, the creator of the self-custody wallet Family, which was later acquired by Aave. He also led design at Coinbase’s Base blockchain network.
• His background in wallets and decentralized finance comes as X prepares to launch X Money, offering peer-to-peer payments, bank deposits, debit card and cashback across the U.S.

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has hired a new head of design with deep roots in crypto product development, as the platform continues to expand into payments and financial services.

Benji Taylor said in Wednesday post that he now leads design for X under its ties to xAI and SpaceX.

Taylor founded Los Feliz Engineering, the team behind self-custody crypto wallet Family. Aave Labs, the development firm behind $42 billion decentralized lender Aave, acquired the company in 2023, after which Taylor served as chief product officer until October 2025. Most recently, he was head of design at Base, the Ethereum-based blockchain network built by crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN).

X product lead Nikita Bier said he had tracked Taylor’s work for years and pushed to bring him on, calling one of his past products among the best designed he had seen.

The hire adds a designer with hands-on crypto experience at a time when X telegraphed its plans to roll out features to support payments and broader financial features on the platform.

Earlier this month, Musk said that X Money is set to launch in April, offering peer-to-peer transactions, bank deposits, a debit card and cashback rewards in more than 40 U.S. states. It was also proposed to pay a 6% yield on balances.

However, there wasn't any mention of blockchain or crypto element in X Money at the time.

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