While Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has embraced Dogecoin (DOGE), his father is pushing a meme coin that trades on the family name—whether his son likes it or not.
Errol Musk has lent his backing to a Solana-based meme coin called Musk It (MUSKIT), seeking to raise between $150 million and $200 million to support a for-profit think tank, the Musk Institute.
What Are Meme Coins and Tokens?
Memes have always been part of crypto culture—so it was perhaps inevitable that they would be financialized using the same technology that birthed cryptocurrencies. Initially, meme coins like Dogecoin were created as a joke, poking fun at cryptocurrencies—but, in true decentralized fashion, they’ve evolved beyond their creators’ original intentions. With their highly volatile prices shaped by influencers and rapidly moving news cycles, meme coins have become a growing sector of the crypto econom...
In an interview with Fortune, Errol Musk said he is unbothered by critics who believe the meme coin is riding on his son’s fame. “I’m the head of the family,” he said. “It really started with me in our family—I’ve been ‘Musking It’ for years.”
The market has responded to Errol Musk’s involvement. Following his statements, MUSKIT is trading at $0.04, up 280%, according to CoinGecko data.
The Musk It token was originally launched by a Middle Eastern-based crypto company in December 2024, but only recently gained attention after Errol and his business partner, tech consultant Nathan Browne, decided to endorse it.
Browne stated that one of their conditions for joining the project was ensuring it “cannot be a pump and dump.”
Musk It’s financial structure remains vague, with no roadmap or tokenomics breakdown. While meme coins are prone to rapid rises and crashes, Errol Musk insists the token has a larger purpose—funding the Musk Institute, which he envisions as a hub for innovative engineering projects like flying vehicles.
Why Most Meme Coins Die Young
Meme coins are great. They’re fun and they onboard a ton of new users into the space—and every once in a while, they break through the on-chain noise and become new pillars of community for people to rally around, like Shiba Inu (SHIB), BONK, or Dogecoin (DOGE). They’re a great tool for onboarding and an even better tool for gambling. They also represent a problem that crypto has faced since the advent of Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens, and arguably even before then. As long as there are gamblers will...
While Elon Musk has dedicated decades to perfecting rocket technology, seeking to turn humanity into a multi-planetary species, Errol seems to believe rockets aren’t the final frontier.
“We need to go beyond rockets,” he told Fortune.
Elon Musk and his father
Although the Musk It project trades on his family name, Elon Musk has no involvement in the project.
His biographer Walter Isaacson once described Errol Musk as a “charismatic fantasist” whose presence “bedevils” Elon.
Their relationship has reportedly soured over the years, with Elon Musk accusing his father of being “a terrible human being” and claiming that “almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done.”
Elon Musk's X Reveals First Payments Details—But No Dogecoin (Yet)
The social media platform formerly known as Twitter will soon take one step closer to becoming Elon Musk’s “everything app,” with X’s long-awaited payments service set to debut later this year. The service, dubbed X Money, will be offered through a partnership with Visa, X CEO Linda Yaccarino said on X Tuesday. The X account for the platform’s payment service bills itself as a solution “for all your money moves,” yet it does not reference cryptocurrency specifically. Yaccarino didn’t name drop...
Errol Musk, however, disputes this characterization and claims that Elon recently inquired about Musk It after seeing media reports.
However, there is no confirmation from Elon Musk regarding this claim.
Elon Musk and meme coins
Elon Musk himself is no stranger to meme coins, but unlike his father, he has never launched his own token.
Instead, he has long been associated with Dogecoin (DOGE), frequently posting memes about it and even integrating DOGE payments into Tesla’s online store.
Elon Musk's Dogecoin and Bitcoin Tweets: A Crypto Twitter Timeline
Have you ever had a partner who was no good for you? Your parents, your friends, even the voice in your head told you to split up, but before you knew it, you were married with three kids. For Tesla CEO Elon Musk, that partner is Twitter. The SEC warns him off of tweeting things that can move the market, and what does he do? He goes and buys a 9% stake in the company—and joins the board to boot. The latest concern is that Musk's appointment could revitalize scrutiny of the automobile kingpin fro...
Despite his influence on meme coins—often causing Dogecoin’s price to surge—Elon has consistently refused to release a crypto bearing his name, unlike President Donald Trump and other celebrities.
Errol Musk’s meme coin launch comes amid a meme coin boom, where opportunistic traders have turned token creation into a full-time business.
On Solana’s Pump.fun platform, a single trader has launched over 17,000 tokens in just three months, earning over $840,000 by quickly minting and flipping new coins. But Pump.fun has hit choppy waters in recent days, with a class action lawsuit accusing it of operating an illegal securities exchange.
