When asked to explain crypto inside an Oakland courthouse on Wednesday, Musk said,
“Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams,” according to a tweet from New York Times reporter Mike Isaac. 

The comment came in response to a question about OpenAI’s short-lived plans to create a cryptocurrency via an initial coin offering, or ICO, to fund the then-nonprofit in 2018. An ICO, which is a play on the term IPO, happens when crypto teams sell tokens to the public. These offerings drew reams of speculative investment in the late-2010s, but the era is largely remembered for the many ICO projects that quickly flamed out after raising funds. 

The ICO plans came to light as part of an ongoing legal battle between Musk and OpenAI over the mission of the hugely popular AI firm. 

Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015, claims that the AI company breached its founding contract when it struck an investment deal with Microsoft and started selling commercial products. In court, Musk said OpenAI “[stole] a charity.” 

OpenAI has rebutted that Musk always understood that OpenAI could eventually evolve into a for-profit entity. In a blog post, the company claimed Musk supported OpenAI’s plan to raise funds via an ICO, which would have involved the creation of a for-profit subsidiary.

Musk’s aside on crypto at the OpenAI trial demonstrates the billionaire’s fluid views on digital assets. The Tesla CEO was a public champion of the sector during the pandemic-era crypto bull run, and oversaw the company’s purchase of $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in 2021, making it an early example of a public company using its balance sheet to buy crypto, a trend that has become increasingly popular in recent years. 

At around the same time, Musk’s tweets about the novelty token Dogecoin helped the meme token rocket upward in value. 

Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in mid-2022, meaning that the company partially missed out on the massive bull run following the election of President Donald Trump that saw the original cryptocurrency soar to over $125,000 in 2024.

The company marked down the value of its remaining 11,509 Bitcoin by $222 million during Q1 of 2026, most recently valuing the stash of coins at $786 million, according to regulatory filings. 

Those remaining tokens have still increased greatly in value since they were acquired at a cost of $386 million in 2021.