Elon Musk: Bitcoin is brilliant but it’s not for Tesla

Story by: Aaron Hankin

Not one to shy away from controversy, Elon Musk weighed in on one of, if not the most, divisive topics in finance today: Bitcoin.

Speaking with Cathie Wood of ARK Invest on a Tuesday podcast, Musk, the co-founder and chief executive of electric car maker Tesla Inc. TSLA, -1.49%  was asked to “go off topic” and offer up some thoughts on the most famous cryptocurrency.

“I think the bitcoin structure is quite brilliant. But I’m not sure that it would be a good use of Tesla’s resources to get involved in crypto,” he told Wood.

‘I think the bitcoin structure is quite brilliant. But I’m not sure that it would be a good use of Tesla’s resources to get involved in crypto’

Read: Here’s what Tesla is promising for 2019

Musk, a pioneer in the payments industry, having founded PayPal Holdings,PYPL, +0.38% added that the days of paper money are numbered and digital currencies could offer a more efficient solution to shifting value. “Paper money is going away and crypto is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper, that’s for sure, but it has its pros and cons,” he said.

Despite his tech background, the controversial Musk has refrained from too many comments on decentralized technology and the digital currencies that operate on them. One of his few comments came in October when he teased the idea that Tesla might be dipping its toes into bitcoin when he tweeted: “Wanna buy some Bitcoin?”