During a recent Town Hall meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk referenced XRP for the first time, sparking widespread interest.
The mention came when an attendee, a visible proponent of the cryptocurrency, questioned Musk on whether he foresaw the XRP Ledger being utilized by financial institutions in the future. Musk, carefully choosing his words, noted his belief in the potential of cryptocurrency as a safeguard against centralized control systems while emphasizing that his comments should not be interpreted as an endorsement—or non-endorsement—of XRP. He further elaborated on his stance, stating, "Crypto inherently promotes individual freedom."
The revelation quickly garnered attention on social media. Vandell, using the handle Black Swan Capitalist (@vandell33) on X, pointed out Musk's seemingly cautious demeanor, pondering the broader implications of billionaire endorsements for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin compared to XRP. He posited that Musk's guarded response might speak volumes.
Elon Musk’s engagement during this event marks his inaugural public discussion of XRP, following years of his ignoring community attempts for endorsement on X. Despite not outright endorsing XRP, Musk has subtly interacted with the community on separate occasions.
In October 2022, Musk expressed surprise via Twitter over the US Securities and Exchange Commission's draft release of former SEC Director William Hinman’s speech on Ethereum. He simply responded, “No way,” to Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s updates. Later, Musk praised an episode of “The All-In Podcast” covering topics from inflation to Ripple's dealings with regulators, calling it a "good podcast."
Despite these indirect interactions, Musk abstains from mentioning XRP directly on X, focusing predominantly on Dogecoin (DOGE). His frequent mentions of DOGE during the 2020/2021 bull market notably propelled the memecoin to its peak. Although he also occasionally references Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), his endorsement-driven influence remains strongest with Dogecoin.
Speculation persists concerning Musk’s potential plans for integrating cryptocurrencies into the X Payment ecosystem. Since acquiring and rebranding Twitter to X, there’s anticipation that Musk intends to evolve the platform into a comprehensive “everything app” that blends social media and financial services. Cryptocurrency payments, particularly featuring Dogecoin, are deemed possible future additions, given Musk’s evident enthusiasm for the digital currency. His companies, Tesla and SpaceX, have already adopted Dogecoin for select merchandise transactions, indicating his openness to its practical application. At the time of writing, XRP is trading at $0.5551.