Elon Musk has revealed his personal cryptocurrency holdings.
The billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla told Twitter followers that he in fact has never purchased cryptocurrency, and only holds a small amount of Bitcoin gifted by a friend.
The tweet was made in response to scam posts on Twitter claiming to be Mr Musk requesting Ethereum. It’s an issue that has plagued the Twitter network, with scammers impersonating blockchain figures such as Vitalik Buterin in attempts to steal users cryptocurrency. Twitter users are warned to never send cryptocurrency to anyone claiming to be hsoting a giveaway or event.
Whilst the businessman may not own cryptocurrency, it was reported in 2016 that he was not against the technology. When appointed to Trump’s team of advisers he declared that Bitcoin was in fact a “good thing”, although he did not elaborate in great detail.
Last year Musk was center of attention in the cryptocurrency space. In November there was heavy speculation that he was in fact the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, creator of Bitcoin. Believers of the theory cited his mastery of C++ (coding language used by both SpaceX and Bitcoin), his passion for solving global problems, and his silence on the issue as evidence. It was also hypothesized that as Satoshi’s original Bitcoin (worth $8b in November) have not been touched, Musk, valued at $19b being the creator made sense – he didn’t need the money. The theory didn’t hold up for long however, with Musk again taking to twitter to claim no involvement with cryptocurrencies. The real identity of the creator of Bitcoin will likely remain unknown, unless Satoshi wishes to reveal their true identity. It’s a scenario that becomes more unlikely with every passing year.
Elon Musk’s lack of involvement with cryptocurrency is interesting, as decentralized technology firmly aligns with his professed aspirations for a better human society. Whether his involvement will change as blockchain technology develops remains to be seen.