Elon Musk has sparked new debate over government spending practices, claiming that multiple U.S. federal departments are using what he calls “magic money computers” capable of issuing payments “out of thin air.” Speaking on the March 17 episode of Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast *Verdict*, Musk said at least 14 such systems exist across departments including Treasury, Defense, and Health and Human Services.
“You may think that the government computers all talk to each other, they’re synchronized…but they’re probably off by 5% or 10% in some cases,” Musk said. “Any computer that can make money out of thin air — that’s magic money.”
His comments triggered a swift response from the crypto community. Bitcoin custody firm Casa’s chief security officer Jameson Lopp replied, “Bitcoin fixes this,” underscoring long-held arguments that Bitcoin’s capped supply of 21 million coins offers protection against unchecked fiat currency issuance.
Musk, who has taken on a new role as a self-styled government cost-cutting czar through his DOGE initiative, said his investigations revealed rampant inefficiencies. According to Musk, some U.S. departments have more software subscriptions, media contracts, and credit cards than employees — in some cases, twice as many.
He noted that some payments were issued without codes or clear explanations. In one instance, Musk said a government contract that should have been terminated continued to send money to a company because “someone forgot to shut off that contract.”
While he attributed about 80% of these occurrences to incompetence or oversight rather than fraud, Musk emphasized that little is being done to recover erroneously issued funds.
Musk’s DOGE reforms have also made him a target. Tesla facilities across the U.S. have reportedly been vandalized by protesters opposing DOGE’s cost-cutting agenda, under a broader “Take down Tesla” movement.
The episode comes amid heightened scrutiny of both federal fiscal transparency and alternative monetary systems, with Musk’s remarks amplifying calls for blockchain-based accountability in public finance.