--- title: 'Elon Musk''s Inflation Advice: ''Own Physical Things''' description: "Elon Musk says it's better to have physical things over cash when inflation is high —\_but he won't sell his Bitcoin, Ether or other cryptos." authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ published: '2022-03-14T15:24:29.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:24:57.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - inflation - News word_count: 474 canonical: https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Collage of Elon Musk with a grid of cryptocurrency coins in the background](https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Elon-Musk-Inflation-Crypto-Advice.jpg) If you were looking for a billionaire's tips for dealing with high inflation, here goes: Elon Musk says it's better to own physical items or [stocks](https://money.com/how-to-buy-stocks/) rather than cash. "As a general principle, for those looking for advice from this thread, it is generally better to own physical things like a home or stock in companies you think make good products, than dollars when inflation is high," the Tesla CEO [tweeted](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1503222294277197829) Monday. But as for his [cryptocurrency](https://money.com/what-is-cryptocurrency/) holdings? "I still own & won’t sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum or Doge fwiw," continued Musk, who is the world's richest person with an estimated net worth of $206 billion, according to the [Bloomberg Billionaires Index](https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/). The price of [Bitcoin](https://money.com/what-is-bitcoin/), [Dogecoin](https://money.com/what-is-dogecoin/) and other cryptos briefly spiked after the tweet. Consumer prices [rose 7.9%](https://money.com/inflation-worst-cities-gas-car-prices/) on a yearly basis in February — the highest 12-month increase since January 1982, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) [data](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf). Across the country, prices for [gas](https://money.com/high-gas-oil-prices-affect-investments/), [cars](https://money.com/how-to-buy-a-car-in-2022/), [food](https://money.com/save-money-on-groceries/) and more are soaring amid a surge in consumer demand and supply chain snags. Cryptocurrency advocates tout that the immense rise of Bitcoin and other cryptos indicate that the digital asset can [hedge against inflation](https://money.com/inflation-2021-stocks-bitcoin-gold-reits-commodities/). Michael Saylor, CEO of business intelligence company MicroStrategy, echoed this notion in a [tweet](https://twitter.com/saylor/status/1503216538547019778?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1503216538547019778%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnbc.com%2F2022%2F03%2F14%2Felon-musk-says-own-physical-things-when-inflation-is-high-but-hes-not-selling-his-crypto.html) to Musk on Sunday evening: "USD consumer inflation will continue near all time highs, and asset inflation will run at double the rate of consumer inflation. Weaker currencies will collapse, and the flight of capital from cash, debt, & value stocks to scarce property like #bitcoin will intensify." But because cryptocurrency is relatively new, we haven't yet been able to see how it holds up during long-term inflationary periods. This isn't the first time Musk has shared what he's doing with his own money and belongings with his nearly 78 million Twitter followers. Back in May 2020, he [said](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1256239554148724737) that he was "selling almost all physical possessions." And he's certainly not been quiet about crypto. Last summer he [commented](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1413396249546563586) that a Dogecoin update could give it an edge over popular cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ether, and he called Dogecoin a "hustle" on *Saturday Night Live*, which caused the crypto's [price to plummet](https://www.reuters.com/technology/dogecoin-spotlight-cryptocurrency-backer-musk-makes-snl-appearance-2021-05-07/). More recently, Dogecoin's price [jumped more than 10%](https://money.com/elon-musk-tweets-dogecoin-crypto/) after Musk tweeted that Tesla merchandise can now be bought with the meme coin. Crypto is a volatile and speculative asset, evidenced by the fact that an offhand tweet from Musk can so quickly move its price. If you're looking for advice on how to protect your assets as prices continue to rise, check out Money's tips on [saving on groceries](https://money.com/save-money-on-groceries/) and [gas](https://money.com/how-to-save-money-on-gas/), and how to [inflation-proof](https://money.com/rising-inflation-retirement/) your investment portfolio with [I bonds](https://money.com/i-bonds-savings-inflation/) and [inflation hedges](https://money.com/inflation-2021-stocks-bitcoin-gold-reits-commodities/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Inflation", "item": "https://money.com/inflation/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Elon Musk's Inflation Advice: 'Own Physical Things'" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/", "name": "Elon Musk's Inflation Advice: 'Own Physical Things'", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-03-14T15:24:29.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/elon-musk-inflation-advice-crypto-tweet/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:24:57.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Elon Musk's Inflation Advice: 'Own Physical Things'", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/03/News-Elon-Musk-Inflation-Crypto-Advice.jpg", "width": 2592, "height": 1728, "caption": "News-Elon-Musk-Inflation-Crypto-Advice" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. 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