Elon Musk described most cryptocurrency projects as scams while testifying in Auckland this week, dragging Bitcoin, Dogecoin and an old OpenAI token plan in his court battle with Sam Altman.
Inside the courtroom, Elon was asked about OpenAI’s short-term 2018 plan to raise money through an initial coin offering, or ICO. “Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams,” he said, based on a post from New York Times reporter Mike Isaac.
Elon brings OpenAI’s 2018 token plan into the fray over its philanthropic roots
The ICO issue arose because OpenAI once considered creating a cryptocurrency token to help fund the non-profit. An ICO is when a cryptocurrency team sells tokens to raise funds. The term borrows from an initial public offering, but it is not the same thing as a stock sale.
The ICO boom in late 2010 brought in a lot of risky money, and then many of these token projects collapsed after getting funded. Cryptocurrency traders remember that period clearly. The place was noisy, fast and full of people pretending that White Paper was a business.
This old plan is now caught up in a much larger legal battle. Elon alleges that OpenAI breached its founding agreement when it built a commercial business and received a large investment from Microsoft (MSFT). He said in court that OpenAI “(robbed) a charity”.
His case revolves around the idea that the company was created to serve the public, not to become another closed AI powerhouse racing for revenue.
OpenAI denies Which A copy of events. The company says Elon knew it would need a for-profit structure to raise enough money.
In a post on the company’s blog, OpenAI said it supports the ICO plan, which would have included a for-profit arm. This claim is important because it contradicts his argument that the later body of work came from nowhere.
Later, while answering questions from his attorney, Elon said he was “reassured” by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others that the nonprofit would continue to operate as a charity. OpenAI and Sam have accused him of harassment.
They also say the lawsuit is really aimed at hurting a competitor to xAI, the AI company that Elon co-founded in 2023. So the court is now dealing with charitable promises, AI money, Microsoft, and a cryptocurrency fundraising idea six years ago. The list of disasters in the world of technology is quite ordinary.
Tesla’s Bitcoin numbers show why Elon’s comment about cryptocurrencies is a bigger market story
Elon hasn’t always seemed so cool when it comes to cryptocurrencies. During the pandemic, it became one of the highest public names associated with the market.
Tesla (TSLA) Bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin In 2021, cryptocurrencies will be placed directly on the balance sheet of a major public company. This made Tesla one of the first major corporate buyers at the time.
His tweets about Dogecoin also helped turn the meme coin into a retail giant. DOGE was already a weird design, but Elon gave it a much larger audience. Traders viewed his posts as price alerts. Some make money. Some were burned. This is encryption. No one needs a sermon.
Tesla then sold 75% of its Bitcoin in mid-2022. Because of this sale, the company did not fully benefit from the recent rally after the election of Donald Trump, when Bitcoin rose above $125,000 in 2024. Tesla still holds part of its position, but the remaining coins took a hit in the first quarter of 2026.
Regulatory filings show that Tesla wrote down the value of its remaining 11,509 bitcoins by $222 million in the first quarter of 2026. As of March 31, the company listed $786 million in cryptocurrency holdings and reported an after-tax impairment loss of $173 million. Bitcoin is down 10% over the year and is trading at $75,350 at the time of writing.
Elon finished his testimony Thursday morning. Sam Altman and Greg Brockman were in court during most of the questioning. After they were introduced, Sam and Greg sat behind their lawyers and listened. Greg also took notes on a yellow legal pad.
Much of Elon’s testimony focused on his break with OpenAI’s leaders as they searched for enough money to compete with Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL) and other for-profit AI companies. “In strict monetary terms, I contributed $38 million,” Elon said this week.
After Elon left the stand, Jared Birchall, who runs his family office, testified. Jared told jurors that Elon paid the rent for OpenAI’s office in the early years. He also said that Elon later asked him to stop paying that rent in 2020.
