Musk labels most crypto projects ‘scams’ in Oakland trial

Elon Musk testified this week in an Oakland courtroom in OpenAI’s civil trial that most crypto projects are scams, citing Bitcoin and Dogecoin and referring to OpenAI’s short-lived 2018 plan to issue a fundraising token.

When questioned about OpenAI’s consideration of an initial coin offering, Musk told jurors, “Some of them have merit, but most of them are scams.” He raised the token idea as part of his broader claim that OpenAI violated its founding agreement by becoming a commercial business and accepting a major investment from Microsoft. In court he also testified he believed OpenAI “stole a charity,” arguing the organization was intended to serve the public rather than operate as a closed, revenue-seeking company.

OpenAI disputed that account, pointing out that Musk knew the organization might require a for-profit component to raise large amounts of capital and that he had supported the ICO plan at the time. The company has described the token idea as involving a for-profit element, a detail OpenAI says undercuts Musk’s claim that the later business model came out of nowhere.

Sam Altman and Greg Brockman attended much of Musk’s testimony, sitting behind their lawyers. Musk told the court he personally contributed $38 million to OpenAI in its early years and that Altman and others had reassured him the nonprofit would continue to operate as a charity. OpenAI and its leaders have accused Musk of harassment and contend the lawsuit aims to weaken a rival to xAI, the company Musk co-founded in 2023.

Jared Birchall, who runs Musk’s family office, also appeared on the witness stand. Birchall testified that Musk paid rent for OpenAI’s early office space and later instructed him to stop covering that cost in 2020. Those details were offered to show the nature of Musk’s early involvement and subsequent disagreements with OpenAI’s direction.

Musk’s courtroom comments came against the backdrop of his long and sometimes changing public relationship with cryptocurrencies. Tesla purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin in 2021 and Musk’s public remarks helped boost interest in Dogecoin among retail investors. Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in mid-2022 and retained a smaller position. Regulatory filings show Tesla reduced the value of its remaining 11,509 Bitcoin by $222 million in the first quarter of 2026, listed $786 million in crypto assets as of March 31 and recorded an after-tax impairment loss of $173 million. Bitcoin was down about 10% for the year and traded near $75,350 in the period referenced by those filings.

The testimony covered promises about OpenAI’s charitable purpose, the role of outside funding, Microsoft’s investment, and the six-year-old crypto fundraising idea. Musk finished his appearance on the stand Thursday morning.