Tech billionaire Elon Musk may be on the fringes of crypto, but he’s no outsider. Many Americans may have heard of bitcoin by now. Only the tribe, however, knows about the legal conflicts that surround the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Musk is keenly aware of what’s happening in the crypto ecosystem, and the Tesla CEO just proved it.
King Cobie, the self-proclaimed “founder of crypto Twitter,” attempted to lure Elon Musk into the Satoshi-infused fight on the social media platform. Rather than take the bait, Musk out-tweeted the crypto Twitter master, suggesting that he and bitcoin are united by neutrality and saying:
“Cryptocurrency is my safe word.”
King Cobie joked that his tweet just got ratioed.
Musk circumvented the battle that’s been unfolding on Twitter, a war that has wrangled in the likes of Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who says he typically refrains from engaging in such debates. Musk, who is also the founder of SpaceX, is too busy with things like building rockets to take sides. Nonetheless, the tech entrepreneur has already tipped his hand to his feelings about crypto.
The U.S. SEC is hot on Musk’s tail for allegedly sharing material information about Tesla’s financial future on Twitter, charges that have since been settled. While bitcoin has been deemed similarly controversial by the securities watchdog, Musk seems to find crypto a reprieve from the red tape that he must navigate as Tesla’s de facto marketer in chief. If crypto is his safe place, the car industry must be a minefield.
Elon Musk is no stranger to the perils of social media that have now reared their head on crypto Twitter. It’s no wonder he’s staying out of it.
The crypto controversy surfaced in response to Craig Wright’s claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto. This angered many on crypto Twitter where the #CraigWrightIsAFraud hashtag took off, fueled by users such as @Hodlonaut. The fraud accusations angered Wright and fellow Bitcoin SV advocate Calvin Ayre, who are looking for a mea culpa from @Hodlonaut, whose identity similar to Satoshi Nakamoto is a secret.
@Hodlonaut has since deleted his Twitter account, and Wright has threatened to sue him in a British court, where the case is less likely to be dismissed versus the U.S. The crypto community has rallied around @Hodlonaut, saying there’s no evidence that Wright is the real Satoshi. There is also a crowdfunding effort to raise funds to cover the legal fees that @Hodlonaut must dole out defending himself against Wright. The fund has already surpassed its goal, attracting nearly $30,000 .
It might become tougher for Elon Musk to keep crypto as his safe place.