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Both Trump and Musk’s Forays Into “Digital Wallets” and Payment Processing Would Have Been Subject to Paused CFPB Rulemaking, Raising Ethics Questions

Ethics Expert: “Together, Trump and Musk seem to be uncaring about any conflict of interest and are just blatantly acting in ways that are out to serve their own private financial interest” 

WASHINGTON, DC — The Trump administration, including the Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), OMB Director Russ Vought and others, has been taking aim at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the sole agency dedicated to consumer protection and putting money back in the pockets of American families. This is another illustration that the Trump administration is betraying workers in a way that not only sides with big corporations and billionaire donors, but also paves the way for Trump officials to further enrich themselves at the expense of millions of Americans, per new analysis from The Hill. 

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President Trump, Elon Musk and other Trump officials should be straightforward about why they’re targeting the CFPB, because it’s clearly not to lower costs for American families. The CFPB has put more than $21 billion back into the pockets of consumers, and its initiatives like the overdraft fee rule protect our money from deceitful practices. Dismantling the agency only serves the wealthy, big business, and the personal finances of Trump and Musk themselves.”

Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk

Per the report, late last year, Trump Media & Technology Group filed a trademark to create a broad financial services platform Truth.Fi. The products and services they said they would perform included the creation of a “downloadable computer software” that serves as a “digital wallet” to store and trade cryptocurrencies as well as a digital payments processing platform for purchases made with cryptocurrencies. The new initiative would be subject to a proposed interpretative rule by the CFPB seeking to expand the definition of “funds” regulated under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) to digital wallets and cryptocurrency payment platforms. 

That oversight process is on indefinite hiatus, after Trump fired CFPB director Rohit Chopra, who “spent years sparring with the financial sector,” and has empowered Musk to further disrupt the agency. 

Musk’s company, X has made similar moves to expand into the financial services space. In January 2025, the company announced that it struck a deal with Visa to create its own digital payments system. 

Adding to the growing list of conflicts, JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America—two institutions with a well-documented grudge against the CFPB—have thrown their support behind Trump, including donations to his inaugural fund. And the New York Times recently found at least 11 agencies affected by Musk’s DOGE actions have “more than 32 continuing investigations, pending complaints or enforcement actions into Mr. Musk’s six companies.” 

Read the full report. 

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