A Former SpaceX Employee: Elon Musk could be the founder of Bitcoin

Elon Musk is a multi-faceted character. A billionaire, a visionary, the owner of companies such as Tesla and SpaceX, and in general one of the most inspiring and intriguing figures in the high-tech business. 

His life is accompanied by endless rumors and false news: from leaving Tesla for joining the Bitcoin startup, to accusing him of being a disgrace to the nation. Given the rapid growth of the popularity of the crypto-currency industry, it is not surprising that the inconclusive hunt for Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, led to speculations that Elon Musk hides a big secret from us all. Sahil Gupta, a computer science student at Yale University and a former trainee in SpaceX, thinks so.

Gupta, who practiced at SpaceX in 2015, presented several "strange" ideas as to why Mask could be the founder of Bitcoin:

Technical capabilities: The Bitcoin was written by someone who is fluent in C ++, the language that Mask used extensively in SpaceX. The 2013 document, written by Mask on the revolutionary transport system Hyperloop, also demonstrates his deep understanding of cryptography and economics.

A passion for solving global problems: Bitcoin was founded in 2009, during the global financial crisis and widespread disregard for banking as a whole. If there was a good time to create a currency for people, not for banks - it was exactly that moment.

Relative silence: Mask spoke about Bitcoin only a few times. He openly stated that he personally does not own Bitcoin and even published a mocking comment on Twitter when he was asked about cryptocurrencies.

Mask does not need money: Satoshi's funds from unutilized Bitcoins were estimated at $ 700 million in June 2016, when the price of one Bitcoin was $ 719. At today's prices, Satoshi's Bitcoins cost more than $ 9.5 billion - about half of the current state of the Mask at $ 19.7 billion.

Additional Supporting Arguments

One week before Gupta's Medium post on Musk, another Medium blog was published with a theory that Musk invented Bitcoin for future use on Mars. As radical as this may sounds, the point around Paypal in this article was relevant. Musk has already revolutionized digital currency his founding role in Paypal, which he sold to eBay in 2002. The author claims Musk is under a non-compete from this deal, leaving him to secrecy about his role in Bitcoin.

Arguments Against This Theory

2008 was Musk's "worst year": 2008 was a notable year for Musk, who publicly claimed it was his worst year ever due to early challenges with SpaceX and Tesla and his personal finances and relationships in jeopardy. One could argue that working on Bitcoin was probably a challenge not even Musk could handle at this point.

Musk lives in the spotlight: When the subject of Musk being Satoshi was brought up on Reddit in 2016, the Reddit community had a field day. Popular opinion is that Musk could never keep a secret this large and would have stepped in already to combat bank and regulatory attempts to destroy the cryptocurrency.

Musk's public statements can be negative: When asked about Bitcoin in this interview, Musk was notably careful about how he responded. Musk called Bitcoin "probably a good thing" but referenced its main use as a facilitator to illegal transactions.

Arguments for and against this theory create a compelling topic nonetheless. Whether or not Musk created Bitcoin is yet to be seen, but it is technically possible. As Gupta puts it, even if Musk is not Satoshi, "thanks for the Tesla Roadster".