Elon Musk says money won't matter by 2036 — what it means for bitcoin

Bitcoin traded near $65,000 on July 27 after Elon Musk told The Economist that money "won't matter" by 2036 as AI-driven abundance eliminates scarcity.

"Money won't matter in 2036," Musk, chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, told The Economist editor-in-chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, predicting a world where robots and AI provide "more goods and services than any human could possibly consume."

Musk said AI may exceed the sum of human intelligence within five years and that as many as one billion humanoid robots could be operating within the same timeframe. He has previously declared energy "the true currency," a statement that has fueled speculation among bitcoin supporters given that his two companies hold a combined 30,221 bitcoin worth almost $2 billion at current prices, according to Bitcoin Treasuries data.

The prediction, while long-dated, touches on a core question for bitcoin holders: if fiat currency becomes irrelevant in an age of machine-driven abundance, does a fixed-supply, energy-backed asset like bitcoin become the natural monetary base — or does money itself cease to have meaning?

The Energy-Backed Asset Thesis

Musk's framing of energy as the true currency aligns with bitcoin's proof-of-work mechanism, which requires miners to expend real electricity to secure the network. "Bitcoin is based on energy: you can issue fake fiat currency, and every government in history has done so, but it is impossible to fake energy," Musk posted on X in October. Tesla held 11,509 bitcoin and SpaceX held 18,712, according to Bitcoin Treasuries, making the two companies among the largest publicly known corporate holders.

Abundance and the Ownership Question

Australian futurologist Rocky Scopelliti, author of "Perceptive Machines," said the defining economic question of the AI era will be ownership, not technology. "Automation can create extraordinary abundance. It doesn't automatically create fairness," Scopelliti said. "Ownership will matter more than technology."

The International Monetary Fund estimates that 40 percent of jobs worldwide are exposed to AI disruption, rising to 60 percent in advanced economies. Goldman Sachs has projected that 300 million full-time jobs globally are at risk of automation. If labor income is decoupled from production at scale, the argument for a neutral, non-sovereign store of value could strengthen, even if the timeline remains uncertain.

For now, bitcoin remains stuck in a downward trend below $65,000, with traders watching for a catalyst to break the range. Musk's prediction adds a narrative layer to a market that has spent much of 2026 searching for direction. Whether money matters in 2036 or not, the debate over what replaces it is already shaping today's positioning.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.