'True Currency': Did Elon Musk Just Describe Bitcoin?

In a recent social media post, Elon Musk has opined that energy is the true currency.

Bitcoiners have treated this take as an endorsement of the leading cryptocurrency because it validates the core philosophy of proof-of-work money.

They see Musk’s post as an indirect admission that Bitcoin is the superior form of money because it is literally tied to energy consumption, unlike fiat money.

Musk’s explicit Bitcoin endorsement

As reported by U.Today, the centibillionaire gave a more detailed explanation of this philosophy during a podcast appearance about three weeks ago.

Musk explicitly linked his “energy is currency” concept to Bitcoin. He praised Bitcoin for being tied to energy, noting that unlike you cannot simply “legislate” or print more energy.

He argued that civilization’s progress should be measured by its mastery of energy (the Kardashev scale).

At the same time, Musk predicted that money itself will eventually become obsolete. He believes that once AI and robotics create a post-scarcity world.

Complicated views

In 2021, Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and accepted it for payments.

However, the company had to reverse course on BTC as a payment method a few weeks later.

Musk couldn’t reconcile Tesla’s focus on sustainable energy with Bitcoin’s then-heavy reliance on coal-powered mining.

A major portion of Bitcoin mining was concentrated in China’s Xinjiang province, which relied heavily on coal.

Between 2021 and 2025, the “facts on the ground” changed, allowing Musk to reconcile his views without looking like a hypocrite.

China banned crypto mining in mid-2021, forcing miners to migrate to places like Texas (wind/solar), Iceland (geothermal).

By 2025, a report from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance confirmed that Bitcoin mining had crossed the 50% sustainable energy threshold.