I just learned something quite interesting about the early days of OpenAI and Elon Musk that many probably don't know. It turns out that in 2018, Musk initially supported raising about $10 billion for OpenAI through an initial coin offering. Yes, an ICO. Internal notes reveal that OpenAI's founders seriously considered this token-based funding structure to support the nonprofit organization's mission.

What's fascinating is that this happened during the peak of the ICO craze in 2017-18, when virtually any startup was trying to raise funds by selling tokens directly to the public. Musk and the founders discussed the technical details of how to structure a for-profit branch that would allow this ICO to take place, but here’s the twist: by the end of the month, Musk changed his mind. According to the documentation, he concluded that OpenAI wouldn't be able to raise enough funds this way and decided to focus on AI work at Tesla instead.

This anecdote says a lot about how conventional technologists thought about cryptocurrencies at that time. Even figures like Musk seriously considered token-based funding mechanisms when regulation was still vague and investor appetite was voracious. The failure of this hypothetical ICO ended up being significant in OpenAI’s history because Musk’s departure in late 2018 helped shape the current structure of the organization: a hybrid of a public benefit corporation and a controlling nonprofit entity that remains its model today.

In hindsight, the OpenAI ICO episode is a reminder of how different the crypto landscape was just a few years ago. Regulations tightened, market volatility cooled enthusiasm, and startups found better alternatives. But at that moment, even major tech thinkers were seriously considering this funding route.

By the way, speaking of market volatility, Bitcoin has been having an interesting moment lately. It’s hovering around $74,000 after trying to break the $76,000 level recently. It’s been a pretty prolonged battle to find clear direction.