Musk’s court testimony that most cryptocurrencies are scams sparks controversy
Elon Musk (일론 머스크) told a jury in a civil trial with OpenAI that most cryptocurrencies are scams. The comment came while answering a question about an ICO that OpenAI considered as a funding option in 2018, blockchain media outlet BeInCrypto reported on April 30 local time.
Musk said some have value but most are scams. His remarks in court drew assessments that they contrast with his past actions, after his comments about bitcoin and dogecoin in 2020 to 2021 had a major impact on markets.
Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in 2021. In the same year, Musk’s posts about dogecoin drove the meme coin’s price higher. Musk also disclosed in a past interview that he held bitcoin, ether and dogecoin.
Tesla sold about 75 percent of its bitcoin holdings in 2022. It has maintained its holdings since then and held 11,509 BTC as of the first quarter of 2026. The value, reflecting an unrealised loss of $222 million, is $879 million.
At the same time, X launched a web-based “cashtag”. The feature turns stock and cryptocurrency tickers into clickable formats linking to real-time charts and asset-specific post feeds.
X also applied measures aimed at reducing exposure to fraudulent tokens. It filters content before it reaches users through measures such as matching contract addresses and locking accounts that post about cryptocurrencies for the first time.
The trial has also revived as an issue OpenAI’s consideration in 2018 of issuing a token. Musk’s side claims that Sam Altman (샘 알트먼) proposed an ICO to sell an OpenAI cryptocurrency at the time, and that Musk opposed it, saying it would greatly undermine trust in everyone associated with OpenAI and the ICO.
OpenAI, however, is countering that Musk supported the ICO concept at the time. The plan was premised on spinning off a for-profit subsidiary. Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI, claims the company is now violating an agreement in place at its founding by working with Microsoft and selling commercial products. The jury trial is expected to last about 3 weeks.
