Elon Musk is speaking up following months of speculation that he is quietly working on a crypto project.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO clarified his position on the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, in a response to a tweet posted by Star Trek actor and blockchain supporter William Shatner. Musk finally put to rest rumors that he’s building a crypto project on the smart contract blockchain.
I’m not building anything on ethereum. Not for or against it, just don’t use it or own any.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2020
The rumors surfaced following public interactions between Musk and Buterin on Twitter.
In April of last year, Musk tweeted “Ethereum” and got a response from Buterin, who invited him to come to Ethereum’s Devcon conference. Musk then posed an open question – what should be built on the leading smart contract platform?
Although Musk has posted many crypto-related tweets and has shown an affinity for Dogecoin, he admits that his stance on digital assets may not go down well with people in the industry.
When asked about his views on Bitcoin and the crypto space in a January 20th Third Row Tesla podcast, the billionaire said that he sees cryptocurrencies as a replacement for cash that can be used to power both illicit activities and legal transactions.
“There are transactions that are not within the bounds of the law — there are obviously many laws in different countries — and normally cash is used for these transactions.
But in order for illegal transactions to occur, the cash must also be used for legal transactions. You need an illegal-to-legal bridge. That’s where crypto comes in.”
