Photo: Web Summit / Flickr
Recently, we reported that Tesla CEO Elon Musk believes cryptos are much better than traditional money and sees Bitcoin as a currency with “quite brilliant structure”. He said that cryptos provide a better alternative to conventional money.
However, despite his enthusiasm, Musk himself owns a very little amount of cryptocurrency, all of which is denominated in Bitcoin. Musk wrote about that on his Twitter:
That said, I still only own 0.25 BTC, which a friend sent me several years ago. Don’t have any crypto holdings.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2019
One year ago, the amount was the same. At that time, Musk wrote:
“I literally own zero cryptocurrency, apart from 0.25 BTC that a friend sent me many years ago.”
The funds were worth as much as $5,000 at the end of 2017, but this sum is nothing compared with Musk’s massive $22 billion net worth.
It is notable that the Tesla founder does not hold Ethereum. Previously, Musk’s Twitter profile was used several times by scammers who tried to create crypto give-away schemes. Musk noted such development and made the following remark:
“Bitcoin and ethereum scammers were so rampant on Twitter I decided to join in and I said at one point wanna buy some bitcoin?”
Despite his belief that cryptos have great potential, Musk is unwilling to use them in his company, explaining that by high energy intensity. He said:
“It’s very energy intensive to create bitcoin at this point, it may not be a good use of Tesla’s resources to get involved in crypto.”
Can Elon Musk Be Bitcoin Creator?
When Bitcoin enjoyed a serious bull run, there were numerous rumors and speculations about the coin’s creator. Some believed it was Elon Musk who stayed behind the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto. The suggestion was first made by a former SpaceX intern Sahil Gupta.
He explained his version with Musk’s deep knowledge of economics and cryptography, passion to solve the most challenging problems of mankind and keeping silent about Bitcoin even if asked.
Recently, Twitter user Tom Heats suggested that Tesla CEO might have his assets elsewhere, however, Musk replied to that with a joke:
Whoever owns the early BTC deserves a Nobel prize in delayed gratification
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 21, 2019
Musk’s posts and comments on Twitter have drawn a lot of attention. Moreover, the interest in Musk’s person is increasing in light of an effort to make him participate in Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN). The project has seen high-profile participation and ongoing advocacy from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and many hope that Musk will follow him.
By the way, Jack Dorsey is one of the most famous crypto supporters. Despite the bearish situation on the market at the end of 2018, he remains bullish on Bitcoin. Recently, Twitter CEO said that Bitcoin will emulate the internet to gain mass adoption worldwide by becoming the Internet’s single native currency.
Dorsey explained:
“I believe the internet will have a native currency and I don’t know if it is bitcoin. I think it [bitcoin] will be; given all the tests it has been through and the principles behind it, how it was created. It was something that was born on the internet, that was developed on the internet, that was tested on the internet…It is of the internet.”
According to Dorsey, the internet is transitioning into a system where any data that is created will be online permanently, and blockchain will help with that.
