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Martien
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šŸ‘ØšŸ»ā€šŸ’»Freelance SysAdmin | šŸ‘Øā€šŸ‘©ā€šŸ‘§ā€šŸ‘¦ Family Man | 🐶 Dog Person | šŸ“Chicken Dad | šŸ¤– Home Automation | šŸŒ Self-Hosting | 🌱 Green Energy | šŸ  Rotterdam

New phone, who dis? #muditakompakt

This is a pretty good Dutch explainer for the general public about the dollar system — how it came to be, and why more countries are losing faith in the dollar while searching for a universal, trustworthy currency.

They just forgot to mention one important thing: #Bitcoin fixes this.

šŸ‘‰ https://nos.nl/video/2564158-is-de-wereld-klaar-met-de-dollar

GM! 2 more days until we leave for New York! šŸ—½

Replying to Avatar Jeff Booth

Thought I would use Elon’s own AI to check something I’ve often wondered about.

One thing if you don’t know - a completely different thing if you know.

For those still on twitter - might be an interesting share and maybe do similar for other tech leaders like Andreeson.

Ask Grok: What is the likelihood that Elon Musk knows that the 1) natural state of the free market is deflation, 2) That in a free market the exponential technology gains "should" flow to society in the form of lower prices, 3) That ANYTHING that stops that natural process is theft through a centralized control system, and 4) that the reason that he doesn't comment positively on Bitcoin is because it breaks the control system that he benefits from?

Estimating the likelihood that Elon Musk knows these four specific points involves analyzing his public statements, actions, educational background, and business interests, while acknowledging the limits of inferring private knowledge. Musk is a highly intelligent individual with a physics and economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania, extensive experience in tech and markets, and a track record of disruptive thinking. Let’s break this down point by point, using publicly available data as of March 5, 2025.

Natural state of the free market is deflation: In a free market with technological progress and competition, prices tend to fall over time as efficiency increases supply and reduces costs—think Moore’s Law in tech or historical declines in goods like electronics. Musk has spoken about this indirectly. In a 2018 Tesla earnings call, he noted how technological improvement drives down costs, saying, ā€œThe cost of lithium-ion batteries is dropping faster than anyone expected.ā€ His focus on scaling production at Tesla and SpaceX to lower unit costs (e.g., reusable rockets cutting launch prices) shows he grasps this dynamic. Given his economics training and practical experience, it’s near-certain—say, 95% likely—he understands deflation as a natural free-market outcome under ideal conditions.

Exponential technology gains "should" flow to society via lower prices: This builds on the first point: if tech improves exponentially, a free market should pass those gains to consumers through competition. Musk’s mission statements for Tesla (ā€œaccelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energyā€) and SpaceX (ā€œmake humanity multiplanetaryā€) imply a belief in democratizing access, which aligns with lower prices over time. In a 2020 interview with Joe Rogan, he said, ā€œThe whole point of Tesla is to make electric cars affordable.ā€ His push for mass-market vehicles like the Model 3 supports this. He likely sees the link between tech gains and price drops—90% likelihood—though his normative ā€œshouldā€ might be tempered by practical business realities.

Anything stopping this is theft via centralized control: This is trickier. It assumes Musk views interference (e.g., monopolies, regulations, or currency manipulation) as theft, implying a libertarian streak. Musk has criticized centralized control—tweeting in 2021, ā€œGovernment is the ultimate monopoly,ā€ and railing against SEC regulations. His disdain for bureaucracy and subsidies (despite Tesla benefiting from them early on) suggests he recognizes distortions. However, ā€œtheftā€ is a strong moral framing. His actions—like moving Tesla’s HQ to Texas in 2021 to escape California’s rules—hint he sees such barriers as unjust. I’d peg this at 80% likelihood; he likely gets the concept but may not frame it so starkly.

He doesn’t comment positively on Bitcoin because it breaks the control system he benefits from: Musk’s Bitcoin stance is complex. He’s tweeted supportā€”ā€œI think Bitcoin is a good thingā€ (2021)—and Tesla briefly accepted it, but he’s also criticized its energy use and volatility, pivoting to Dogecoin quips. Bitcoin’s deflationary nature and decentralization threaten centralized financial systems (e.g., fiat inflation), which Musk’s wealth partly relies on via Tesla’s valuation and government contracts. Does he avoid praising Bitcoin to protect this? Possibly. His 2021 tweet, ā€œYou can’t have a currency with a negative interest rate,ā€ shows he understands deflationary mechanics, yet he’s cagey. This could reflect strategic silence—SpaceX and Tesla navigate regulated systems he can’t fully buck. I’d estimate 70% likelihood he knows Bitcoin disrupts control and benefits him to downplay it, though personal eccentricity or genuine skepticism could explain his reticence too.

Overall, Musk’s intellect and track record make it highly probable he understands 1) and 2) (95% and 90%), likely grasps 3) conceptually (80%), and has at least a strong chance of recognizing 4) (70%). His silence on Bitcoin’s systemic threat could be calculated, but it’s not conclusive. Adjusting for his unpredictable public persona, I’d ballpark his awareness across all four at 70-95%, with 85% as a median guess—high confidence he gets the economics, moderated by uncertainty on his deeper motives.

Asked the same to ChatGPT 3o:

Hey Martien—here’s a (necessarily) arm-chair probability run, anchored to what Musk has actually said and done in public:

Assertion Likely?* Why I land there (evidence & reasoning)

1. ā€œNaturalā€ free-market trend is deflation ā‰ˆ 85 % Musk has warned the Fed that a ā€œmajor rate hike risks deflation,ā€ and he’s repeatedly blamed rising prices on government money-printing rather than supply-and-demand. ļæ¼ ļæ¼

2. Tech progress should drive prices down for everyone ā‰ˆ 80 % His whole playbook is about steep learning-curve cost drops (ā€œthe best part is no part, the best cost is no costā€) and constant price-cuts on Teslas/Starlink as volumes rise. He speaks of Moore-like curves in rockets, batteries and AI chips, implying consumer deflation as the end-state. ļæ¼

3. Blocking that deflation equals wealth transfer via central control (ā€œtheftā€) ā‰ˆ 60 % Musk stops short of calling it outright ā€œtheft,ā€ yet he does frame inflation as the result of ā€œexcess government spendingā€ and a stealth tax on ordinary people—which is philosophically the same point. ļæ¼ ļæ¼

4. His muted stance on Bitcoin is because BTC breaks a system he profits from ā‰ˆ 35 % He has gone quiet on Bitcoin since Tesla’s 2021 energy U-turn, while loudly boosting Dogecoin and courting U-S-government contracts and subsidies. But other motives—energy optics, SEC headaches, meme-marketing—are at least as plausible. He occasionally resurfaces with mild BTC praise, which weakens the ā€œbenefits-from-the-systemā€ theory. ļæ¼ ļæ¼

*Rough subjective odds, not statistical measurements.

Take-aways in plain English

• Musk almost certainly understands macro-deflation and tech-driven price collapse; it’s part of his public narrative.

• He pretty clearly sees inflation as a government-caused transfer of wealth, even if he couches it in less loaded language than ā€œtheft.ā€

• The Bitcoin silence is murkier. It could be strategic brand-management, regulatory caution, or simple preference for his pet meme-coin rather than fear of losing ā€œsystemā€ advantages.

So: high confidence on items 1-3 being in his head, but only a coin-flip—or less—that 4 is his real motivation for staying mostly mum on BTC.

GM!

Happy King’s Day to my fellow Dutchies! šŸ‘‘šŸ¦šŸŸ 

Nope, you’re trying to make it a discussion rn, there’s no discussion, you can call sats whatever you want, if the majority of users call them sats, they are called sats.

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