Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been hinting at Bitcoin and crypto for a really long time, and people don’t necessarily know what;’s his stance on the matter.
He decided that it’s time to clarify his thoughts on BTC and crypto.
During a new interview on the Third Row Tesla Podcast, Musk says he’s neither an advocate nor a critic of the emerging technology.
“I’m neither here nor there on Bitcoin… I thought [the Bitcoin whitepaper] was pretty clever.”
Musk said crypto is the bridge between illegal and legal
Musk said that crypto supporters should acknowledge that cryptos are used for illicit as well as legit purposes.
“This sort of gets the crypto people angry, but there are transactions that are not within the balance of the law. And there are, obviously, many laws in different countries,” Musk said.
He continued and explained, “And, normally, cash is used for these transactions. But, in order for illegal transactions to occur, cash must also be used for legal transactions. You need an illegal to legal bridge. That’s where crypto comes in.”
Fiat money gets harder to use
Musk also said that fiat is becoming hard to use, and this gives crypto an opening in the global economy.
But on the other hand, he doesn’t think that the digital assets will replace cash and become the primary option for payments.
“Cash, these days, is used much rarer. It’s increasingly difficult to use cash. Some places, you can’t use cash at all. So, there’s a forcing function for transactions that are illegal, quasi-legal, and in some cases legal. But it’s got to have both legal and illegal…” Musk said as cited by the online publication the Daily Hodl.
He concludes by saying: “So where I see crypto as, respectively, is a replacement for cash. But I do not see crypto being the primary database.”