Is He Moving Farther Away?

• Elon Musk said he doesn’t spend time thinking about cryptocurrencies. 
• Musk’s cryptocurrency activities have been muted so far this year. 
• Earlier in November, the billionaire asserted none of his companies would ever launch a crypto token.

Cryptocurrency prices may have recovered significantly in recent months, but it appears not to have convinced billionaire tech founder Elon Musk to increase his activities around digital assets. If anything, the recent stance of the founder of Tesla appears to be moving away from the crypto space. 

In a recent conversation on the social media platform X, Musk told Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood he does not “spend a lot of time thinking about cryptocurrency.” The statement which certainly would hurt many crypto natives, came after Wood asked Musk about Bitcoin’s potential impact on the financial system. 

So far this year, Elon Musk, who used to be a fervent cryptocurrency advocate has taken a muted stance. However, this did not go unnoticed by millions of followers, particularly on X. 

Earlier in November, Musk reaffirmed that none of his companies will ever launch a cryptocurrency token. The founder made this statement after a flurry of meme tokens – inspired by his then newly-introduced AI startup XAI – made their way into the market.

In 2021, Musk disclosed he holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin, discounting rumored ties to meme network Shiba Inu. While the tech billionaire declined to give specific details on the tokens, crypto enthusiasts continue to speculate Musk could be a whale – investors with substantial crypto holdings.

Meanwhile, his electric vehicle company Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings are more evident. Going by the company’s most recent quarterly report, Tesla did not sell or add to its 9,720 BTC, which is worth more than $424 million at current market prices.  

At present, Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings place it as the third-largest among publicly traded companies, according to Bitcointreasury.net. MicroStrategy and Marathon Digital Holdings, occupy the first two positions, with Bitcoin holdings of 174,530 and 13,396, respectively.