Elon Musk Takes an Interest in Cryptocurrencies

Programmer and entrepreneur Elon Musk is well-known for projects such as Space X and Tesla, technology companies that are at the very forefront of innovation in the space exploration and automotive industries. While Space X’s main goal is to reduce the cost of space travel, Tesla aims to make electric cars more affordable.

Before these two companies, however, Musk formed the pioneering X.com that brought payment processing to the internet. This company would later join with Confinity and become Paypal. Paypal would later be sold to Ebay for US$1.5 billion, making Elon Musk a millionaire several times over.

This was not Musk’s first company sell. Prior to X.com, he sold a software company, Zip2, for over US$340 million to Compaq. As an entrepreneur with a past in payment processing and software development, it is not unusual to find Elon Musk reviewing what a redditor pointed out as Julian Hosp’s Cryptocurrencies Simply Explained.

This is likely light reading for Musk, who is perhaps researching the .25 bitcoin gifted to him by a friend – which is a very small percentage of his net worth (at least in the tumultuous markets of winter 2018).

Furthermore, the image of Elon Musk reading Cryptocurrencies Simply Explained may have a sense of irony, especially for the segment of the cryptocurrency community that believes Elon Musk may be Satoshi Nakamoto himself (a rumor started by a Space X intern). Musk claims that he did not invent Bitcoin.

One can’t help but speculate as to what Musk considers when he thinks about cryptocurrencies and blockchains. Is he brainstorming the next generation of payment processing, or is he more curious about the logistical applications of blockchain technology?

It is well known that some of Tesla’s competitors such as Mercedes-Benz have also forayed into blockchain tech, exploring methods of logistics and titling. A Lamborghini dealer in Newport Beach, California even accepts Bitcoin as a method of payment.

The blockchain represents a new generation of technologies that affect law, logistics, and technology itself. And while Musk’s stated opinions on blockchains and cryptocurrencies have been minimal so far, the entire community seems anxious to find out what effect the founder of Tesla and Space X will have on this new space.