Elon Musk called Bitcoin “bs” in a series of bizarre weekend tweets that also sent the price of a rising rival cryptocurrency.
The second richest man in the world seemed to question the legitimacy of all cryptocurrencies during an early morning distress, before later playing with the idea of converting Tesla balance sheet cash into digital money, which has been in tears.
“Bitcoin is almost as good as fiat money” he wrote at 4:24, New York time, referring to a term for the currency issued by the government that is not supported by a physical commodity such as gold.
The US dollar and other major currencies around the world are considered fiat currencies. Musk has previously questioned governments that print large sums of money – he said In May, “the massive issuance of currency by central government banks makes Bitcoin the Internet [ghost] money looks solid by comparison. “
Musk simultaneously generated some noise around Dogecoin, which is named after a famous internet meme with a shiba inu dog. The alternative cryptocurrency was launched in 2013 and has a market value of approximately $ 622 million, a small part of the $ 423 billion Bitcoin.
“One word: Doge,” Musk posted on Twitter. He also changed his biography on the site to say “Former CEO of Dogecoin”.
The price of Dogecoin has risen by up to 20% to its highest price since early July after Musk’s tweet, according to cryptocurrency news site Coindesk. The coins traded at about 9 percent starting at 2:01 p.m., but were still worth less than a penny at about $ 0.0049.
A few hours later, the CEO of Tesla dropped the idea of converting cash from the Tesla balance sheet into cryptocurrency in an exchange with Michael Saylor, a big supporter of Bitcoin, who is also the CEO of the business intelligence firm MicroStrategy.
Saylor – whose company bought more than $ 1 billion worth of Bitcoin this year – wrote on Twitter that Musk should “do a $ 100 billion favor to shareholders” and convert Tesla’s balance sheet from dollars to digital currency. .
“Other companies on the S&P 500 would follow suit and grow over time to become a $ 1 trillion favor,” Saylor wrote Sunday in response to risky even Musk posted that Bitcoin is a seductive woman trying to tempt caste men.
This led Musk to ask, “Are such large transactions possible?” Saylor replied that they were, but Musk did not ask on Twitter.
Musk’s tweetstorm comes amid a dizzying rally for Bitcoin, which sent him over $ 20,000 for the first time last week.
The tech billionaire’s cryptic tweets make it difficult to identify his real views on cryptocurrency, but one provides a clue. When a follower speculated that the price of Bitcoin will fall, but will also reach $ 50,000 in the next five years, Musk replied, “Sounds good.”
“Bitcoin is my safe word” he joked early in the morning before watching about 20 minutes later, adding, “I’m kidding, who needs a safe word anyway !?”