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Elon Musk Says Some Cryptocurrencies Have Value, but Most Are Scams

The comment came during testimony tied to an early ICO funding discussion, while Tesla’s earlier $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase remains part of the broader market context.

BTC

Fact Check
All sources consistently corroborate the core claim, each citing Fortune as the primary outlet. The exact quote reported across Wu Blockchain, Coin Bureau, Odaily, KuCoin, and Crypto Galaxy Market Watch is 'some crypto assets have merit, but most are scams,' delivered during Musk's OpenAI lawsuit testimony in response to questions about OpenAI's 2018 ICO fundraising plan. The claim's phrasing ('some cryptocurrencies have value') is a minor paraphrase of the actual quote ('some crypto assets have merit'), but the substance is accurate. The ICO context is correctly described as tied to OpenAI's early fundraising plans. Tesla's $1.5B Bitcoin purchase as background context is also accurate and well-documented. The primary Fortune article could not be directly fetched due to tool limits, but it is consistently cited by multiple credible independent outlets, supporting high confidence.
Summary

Elon Musk said in court that some cryptocurrencies have value, but that most are scams. The remark was made during testimony in his OpenAI lawsuit and was tied to discussion of an early ICO funding plan. The source also notes that Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2021 and still holds about 11,509 BTC worth roughly $786 million, underscoring the company’s continued exposure to digital assets.

Terms & Concepts
  • ICO (initial coin offering): A fundraising method in which a crypto project sells newly issued tokens to early backers, typically before the network or product is fully developed.
  • Bitcoin: The largest cryptocurrency by market value, used as a digital asset and held by some companies as part of treasury reserves.
  • BTC: The ticker symbol for Bitcoin, commonly used to denote the cryptocurrency in trading and balance-sheet disclosures.