Elon Musk is no stranger to the crypto space. In a recent interview, he discussed some new thoughts on the world of digital currencies and on several other financial elements that the world – and he, himself – are facing.
Elon Musk Regarding the Evolution of Crypto
When discussing crypto, Musk mentioned:
I’m not a huge hater of fiat currency like many in the crypto world are, but there are advantages with crypto relative to fiat in that fiat currency tends to get diluted by whatever government it is. It ends up being a pernicious tax on people, especially those who have cash savings with dilution of the money supply. I could wax on about the nature of money for hours because I played a significant role in creating PayPal. There are very few people that understand [the money system] better than me.
He also casts doubt on the idea that he’s the richest person in the world, a title he was recently graced with. He stated that while he may have a lot of money or stock options to his name, he doesn’t have the power one might assume would come with being the richest person, and thus he assumes that many world politicians likely outdo him in that capacity.
He stated:
Well, I think there’s like some, you know, sovereigns. I think [Russia’s] President Putin is significantly richer than me. I can’t invade countries and stuff.
One area where he thinks crypto can ultimately help society is through the distribution of assets. Right now, he feels that people are very divided financially. Some are very rich, whereas some are very poor. This, Musk comments, is hurting the global economy, and he believes crypto can potentially give people access to wealth they never would have had otherwise.
He states:
When looking at income and asset distribution, it is very important to normalize that for age. So as societies age, there are more older people. The older somebody is, the richer they are, but a lot of the push for higher government involvement and expropriation of assets by the government is pushed by a bunch of politicians who are saying that resources shouldn’t be in control of private individuals. They should be in control of the government… If there’s a utopia where people have access to any goods or services that they want, there’s plenty for everyone. If we have a highly automated future with the robots that can do anything, then any work you do will be because you want to do it, not because you need to do it. I don’t mean to suggest chaos, but rather that you’re not under anyone’s thumb.
On His Tweets
Regarding his tweets, he said:
I’m not really trying to do brand optimization. So sometimes, I obviously shoot myself in the foot.
