Dogecoin Cocreator Calls Elon Musk a 'Grifter' Who Had Trouble Running Basic Code Jackson Palmer said Musk appeared to have trouble running basic code in their private interactions.
By Cheryl Teh
This story originally appeared on Business Insider
The cocreator of dogecoin has made some harsh comments about Elon Musk, calling the Tesla and SpaceX CEO a "grifter" who wasn't capable of running basic code.
Jackson Palmer spoke to independent Australian news site Crikey on topics ranging from Musk to the future of cryptocurrency.
Palmer is best known for being one of the people behind dogecoin, a cryptocurrency coin based on a meme that launched in 2013. Partly thanks to Musk, dogecoin is now one of the world's most valuable crypto coins.
However, Palmer criticized Musk in his interview with Crikey and shared some details of his "interesting past" with the billionaire.
According to Palmer, he first messaged the billionaire on Twitter some years ago after creating a bot that would help detect if there was a cryptocurrency scam in a Twitter mention and send an automated report to the platform flagging the scam, per Crikey.
Palmer said he also worked with Twitter cofounder Jack Dorsey and the Twitter team so that reports would be instantly sent to them, the outlet reported. He also sent the code to other crypto influencers.
"Elon reached out to me to get hold of that script and it became apparent very quickly that he didn't understand coding as well as he made out. He asked, 'How do I run this Python script?'" Palmer said, per Crikey.
"After I gave him the script, I wasn't a fan of him. He's a grifter, he sells a vision in hopes that he can one day deliver what he's promising, but he doesn't know that," Palmer added, per the outlet. "He's just really good at pretending he knows. That's very evident with the Tesla full-self-driving promise."
Palmer claimed people on Twitter were likely enamored by Musk tweeting at them and angling to be friends with him or get rich themselves by association, per Crikey.
"About a year ago, when Musk was saying something about crypto, I said Elon Musk was and always will be a grifter but the world loves grifters," Palmer said, the outlet reported. "They love the idea that they may also be a billionaire one day, and that's the dream he's selling."
Palmer also spoke to Crikey about Musk's Twitter bid, saying he thought the billionaire was out to destroy the platform.
"He was sowing a huge amount of discord and distrust on the platform, and there are huge amounts of churn and attrition from staff," Palmer said, per the outlet. "His play is to either dismantle all trust or maybe he's delusional enough to think he can build an alternative. The other alternative is that he wants to drive it into the ground at a much lower price, and I think that's what he's doing."
Regarding Musk's resolution to vote Republican, Palmer told Crikey: "It's so strange. I think the good news is that a large number of people do see through his shit, including a lot of people who have the rug pulled over their eyes."
Representatives for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
