Elon Musk Says Most Cryptocurrencies Are 'Scams,' While Some Have 'Merit' During OpenAI Trial: Report

Elon Musk Says Most Cryptocurrencies Are 'Scams,' While Some Have 'Merit' During OpenAI Trial: Report Elon Musk Says Most Cryptocurrencies Are 'Scams,' While Some Have 'Merit' During OpenAI Trial: Report Aniket Verma May 2, 2026 8 min read Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Elon Musk said most cryptocurrencies are "scams" during his Thursday testimony in the OpenAI trial, according to a reporter covering the case. Musk's Response To Initial Coin Offering Question Mike Isaac, a tech reporter from The New York Times, quoted Musk explaining cryptocurrency to the jury in the Federal Courthouse in downtown Oakland.

"Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams," Musk was quoted as saying. Don't Miss: A single bad hire can set a startup back years. Here are the 5 hires founders most often misjudge — and why Still Learning the Market?

These 50 Must-Know Terms Can Help You Catch Up Fast The comment was in response to a question about OpenAI's reported plans to raise funds through an initial coin offering—a cryptocurrency-based fundraising—in 2018, Issac said. Elon Musk explaining what cryptocurrency is to the jury: "Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams." this is responding to early emails where OpenAI discussed holding an ICO, or initial coin offering, in order to fund the company. (back then, ICOs were en vogue…) — rat king 🐀 (@MikeIsaac) April 29, 2026 Benzinga couldn't independently verify Musk's statements. Tesla, SpaceX and xAI didn't immediately return requests to confirm.

Trending: Avoid the #1 Investing Mistake: How Your 'Safe' Holdings Could Be Costing You Big Time Musk's Hot And Cold Crypto Relationship Musk's views on cryptocurrency have been a topic of discussion for a while. During a Joe Rogan podcast in 2025, he compared investing in meme coins to playing in a casino, suggesting that expecting to win in either case is foolish. He also warned against pouring life savings into such assets.

But this contrasts with his fondness for Dogecoin and the Bitcoin investments of his mobility giant, Tesla. Tesla holds roughly $887 million in Bitcoin, per on-chain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence. As for DOGE, Musk said in February that his space technology company, SpaceX, would likely put the memecoin "on the moon" in 2026.

See Also: Skip the Regrets: The Essential Retirement Tips Experts Wish Everyone Knew Earlier. The OpenAI Lawsuit Musk has sued OpenAI for $150 billion in damages, alleging that co-founders Sam Altman and Greg Brockman betrayed the start-up's founding non-profit mission by turning the organization into a for-profit entity. Musk invested in the company before quitting in 2018 due to a disagreement over its direction.