In a strategic move signaling its deepening commitment to financial services, X (formerly Twitter) has appointed cryptocurrency product design veteran Benji Taylor as its new head of design. The appointment, confirmed in mid-March 2025, comes directly ahead of the planned early public launch of the platform's ambitious financial application, X Money, targeted for April 2025.
Taylor brings a highly specialized skillset from the forefront of crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) user experience. He previously founded Los Feliz Engineering, the studio behind the self-custodial wallet Family, which was acquired by Aave Labs in 2023. Most recently, he served as the head of design for Coinbase's layer-2 blockchain, Base, giving him direct experience in scaling blockchain applications for mainstream adoption.
His mandate at X extends beyond the core social feed. Internal communications indicate Taylor will lead design across X's portfolio, including collaborative projects with Elon Musk's other ventures, xAI and SpaceX, suggesting a unified vision for user interfaces across Musk's technological empire.
The hiring is intrinsically linked to the imminent rollout of X Money, which Elon Musk confirmed last week. The app represents the most concrete step in transforming X into an "everything app" capable of handling payments, banking, and trading. Analysts view Taylor's crypto background as critical, as designing a secure, intuitive financial interface requires expertise in security transparency, complex transaction flows, and regulatory compliance—all hallmarks of crypto product design.
"Bringing in a designer with Benji Taylor’s pedigree from the crypto and DeFi world is a definitive statement," said Mariana Chen, a fintech analyst at Stanford University. "It indicates that X Money is likely to incorporate blockchain-based features or crypto asset management from the outset."
