Elon Musk calls most cryptocurrencies “a scam”

Published: 2026-05-02 05:01:07 ET TSLA

Published on 05/02/2026 at 05:01 am EDT

Key takeaways

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, stated during his lawsuit against OpenAI that he believes most cryptocurrencies are fraudulent. This remark surfaced when Musk was asked to clarify his position on digital assets in connection with OpenAI’s plans for an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018.

Contradictory statements

Musk’s stance contrasts with his earlier support for digital currencies. In 2021, Tesla made headlines as one of the first listed companies to invest 1.5 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros) in bitcoin, although Musk himself acknowledged the risks. The company even briefly accepted bitcoin as payment for electric vehicles, before halting this practice due to environmental concerns surrounding bitcoin mining.

Musk’s earlier endorsements of dogecoin, a meme‑based cryptocurrency, and his company’s decision to suspend bitcoin payments, have drawn criticism from some who accuse him of hypocrisy, pointing to the substantial price surges dogecoin experienced whenever Musk mentioned it.

Debate within the crypto community

Nevertheless, Musk’s social media platform X has actively integrated cryptocurrency‑related features, including the Cashtags function for tracking prices and the upcoming launch of X Money, a digital wallet for peer‑to‑peer transactions.

These comments from Musk have sparked a debate within the cryptocurrency community. While some agree with his assessment and believe that only a handful of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum have real value, others remain unconvinced and see potential in a broader range of digital assets. (fc)

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