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By Hugh Cameron
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Elon Musk's father has entered the crypto space with his "Musk It" meme coin.
Errol Musk and Nathan Browne, his business partner, told Fortune they hoped to raise $150 million to $200 million from the project, the proceeds of which would go toward funding a new think tank, the Musk Institute.
Why It Matters
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Elon Musk is the richest man in the world and a key player in President Donald Trump's second administration. As Errol Musk attempts to cash in on this celebrity, he joins a growing list of figures who have sought to monetize their fame or notoriety through crypto-focused ventures—including "Hawk Tuah Girl" Haliey Welch, Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
However, experts warn that meme coins—volatile digital assets lacking inherent utility and inspired by internet trends—create ripe conditions for "pump and dump" or "rug pull" schemes, in which small groups of investors artificially inflate value through community hype, only to cash out and leave most holders at a loss.
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What To Know
In an article published on Thursday, Errol Musk told Fortune that his sons Elon and Kimbal Musk were not involved in the new venture or the institute it is intended to support, but that Elon had called him earlier this month to ask about the project.
Reports of the Musk Institute first surfaced in December. Finance Middle East, citing comments Errol Musk made to Arabian Business in a now-deleted article, said the project would be built in Dubai and aimed at amending the United Arab Emirates' "brain drain."
"Dubai is central to the world, and we wanted to build an academy of science to retain the greatest and craziest minds, giving them a chance," Errol Musk reportedly told Arabian Business.
The Musk It token, which Fortune reported was launched in December by a "Middle Eastern–based crypto company," is up more than 500 percent since the outlet published its article.
As of 9:30 a.m. ET, the coin was valued at about 7 cents, with a market cap of $72 million and more than $88 million worth of trades in the past 24 hours.
Following the launch of the $TRUMP coin prior to the inauguration, Yesha Yadav, an associate dean and Milton R. Underwood Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University and a former legal counsel to the World Bank, told Newsweek that meme coins, especially those based on jokes or fleeting internet trends, posed a risk to the perception of the wider crypto industry and future hopes of "regulatory reform."
What People Are Saying
Errol Musk told Fortune, when asked about the motivation to monetize the name made famous by his son: "I'm the head of the family. It really started with me in our family—I've been 'Musking It' for years."
Yadav told Newsweek on January 21: "[The crypto] industry may well worry at present about momentum toward crypto institutionalization and legitimacy becoming slowed, where meme coins end up receiving most of the oxygen of public and policy attention."
Errol Musk told Newsweek that he had given permission for the Musk It meme, and that the purpose is to "raise funds for a new science institute free of national boundaries and preferably located in Dubai, to start the serious study off Space-Time Travel and the physics or non-physics of Gravity; and a study to solve the difficulties of Fusion."
"Without success in these endeavors, the popular conception of the future, often shown in films, on TV and described in books, is out if the question," he added.
What Happens Next
Construction of the Musk Institute is slated to begin in 2025, according to Finance Middle East.
Multiple crypto-focused accounts, meanwhile, are promoting the Musk It token on X, and the coin is continuing a steady trajectory upward on CoinMarketCap.
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Update 02/07/25 11:22 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Errol Musk.
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