Tesla CEO Elon Musk Says He Isn’t “For or Against” Ethereum
Every few months, Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk comments on Bitcoin, Ethereum, or another cryptocurrency.
In May, he commented on Bitcoin to J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. Responding to the author’s assertions that she doesn’t understand the leading cryptocurrency, Musk wrote:
“Pretty much, although massive currency issuance by government central banks is making Bitcoin Internet money look solid by comparison.”
July 2nd marked Musk’s latest comment about cryptocurrencies. This time, he addressed his personal stance on Ethereum, responding to William Shatner, known for portraying Captain James T. Kirk.
Elon Musk Doesn’t Own Any Ethereum And Isn’t For Or Against It
Over recent years, it has become known that Canadian actor William Shatner is a proponent of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. He half-jokingly tweeted in 2018:
“Hey Sporto I’m Crypto-hip I’m just HODLing back from calling you out but if you have a FUD about your FOMO, don’t worry you’ll just end up as a bagholder.”
In the middle of 2019, Shatner cemented this further, tweeting out his support for an Ethereum-based project. In that same tweet, he also tagged Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the blockchain, and Musk.
On July 2nd, Musk finally responded to the tweet by asserting that he isn’t “building anything on Ethereum.”
“I’m not building anything on ETH. Not for or against it, just don’t use it or own any.”
A short comment, sure, but this isn’t the first time Musk has mentioned the cryptocurrency. In 2019, Musk asked Buterin what use cases Ethereum has, an interaction that presumably is what caused Shatner to tag the two.
There Are Prominent Firms Working on the Blockchain
While Musk may not be working on Ethereum, there are prominent companies and entrepreneurs that are.
Adam Cochran, a partner at Metacartel Ventures and an adjunct professor at Conestoga College in Canada, observed that Fortune 500 companies are dabbling in Ethereum per his analysis.
By looking at the top 10,000 ETH wallets (by holding size), he found:
“Wallets associated with major players such as JPMorgan Chase, Reddit, IBM, Microsoft, Amazon, and Walmart [are accumulating ETH].”
Some of the companies listed are also working on blockchain projects, hence their propensity to acquire the cryptocurrency.
Reddit, for instance, is working on a blockchain-based points system to incentivize community growth and presumably create a new revenue stream. The system has been dubbed “Community Points” and is slated to be launched on the Ethereum mainnet once it exits beta.
Separately, “Big Four” auditor Ernst & Young (EY) has created a technology dubbed “Nightfall.” The technology aims to make Ethereum-based transactions more private, which will presumably incentivize corporations to begin to leverage the blockchain.
If Musk will follow these firms, though, remains to be seen.
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Nick Chong, Khareem Sudlow