Elon Musk has delivered a brutal reality check to hardcore meme coin investors, comparing their enthusiasm to reckless gambling.
The world of cryptocurrency and bitcoin is a hard one to understand - and investing can sometimes do more harm than good.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Tesla and SpaceX boss didn’t hold back, warning against sinking serious cash into these highly volatile digital assets.
With meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu continuing to hold strong in popularity, Musk made it clear that chasing quick riches in crypto is a dangerous game.
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Elon Musk explained: “It’s like a casino or something. And then people just do the greater fool theory — like musical chairs, and whoever’s the last to sit down loses”.
He doubled down on his skepticism while comparing meme coin investment to traditional gambling. He said, “If you go to the casino, if you expect to win at the casino, you’re being a fool”.
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“If you expect to win at meme coins, you’re being foolish. You’re not going to win at meme coins. Don’t sink your life savings into a meme coin”, he added.
Then, Rogan and Musk hone in what could be argued as what’s closest to a healthy moderation with meme coins, again in contrast to traditional casino gambling. Rogan first said: “No, but you can gamble a little and you can ride waves, and win a little & lose a little…”.
In response, Musk clarified: “If you wanna have some fun, then play with meme coins, but don’t bet the farm.”
The latest crypto cycle of excitement saw the launch of a Donald Trump-themed meme coin, which initially skyrocketed past $60 before crashing below $14. Experts at 10x Research believe this is part of a larger pattern, where early insiders cash out at high prices, leaving regular investors with huge losses — an instance of a regular occurrence in the industry known as a “pump & dump”.
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Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, spoke to Forbes weighing in with his thoughts on the practice. He said: “The issue isn’t just price declines — it’s the realization that insiders could accumulate large amounts early, leverage major crypto exchanges for liquidity, and then sell to retail investors at inflated prices”.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently clarified that most meme coins aren’t classified as securities, as they function more like collectibles driven by speculation. However, fraudulent activities involving these coins will still face regulatory action.
Despite his warnings, Musk has played a major role in Dogecoin’s success. His tweets have repeatedly caused price spikes, like the above post of which he was merely sharing the X social media site's new logo from the DogeDesigner account, caused the Dogecoin's value to shoot up by 9%.
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What's more, he even backed the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is a subtle nod to the popular token.
While Musk finds meme coins entertaining, he’s making it clear that people should think twice before gambling on them.
“At the risk of saying something bold and outrageous — don’t bet the farm on a meme coin,” he further added in his comments to Rogan.
For those still hoping to strike it rich, Musk’s message is simple: having a bit of fun is fine, but play at your own risk.