(Reuters) – Elon Musk asked on Sunday about the possibility of converting “large transactions” of Tesla Inc’s balance sheet into bitcoin, according to a Twitter exchange between Musk and a well-known digital currency lawyer.
Michael Saylor, executive director of MicroStrategy Inc., in a tweet to Musk, suggested that the billionaire founder and head of Tesla make the move.
“If you want to give shareholders a $ 100 billion favor, convert the TSLA balance sheet from USD to #BTC,” Saylor wrote in his tweet. “Other companies on the S&P 500 would follow suit and, over time, become a $ 1 trillion favor.”
“Are even such large transactions possible?” Musk replied to Saylor.
“Yes. I’ve bought over $ 1.3 billion in #BTC in the last few months and I’d be happy to share my offline playbook with you ….” Saylor wrote on Twitter.
Tesla and Musk could not be reached for comment.
“Every CEO faces the challenge of maintaining and enhancing shareholder value in the face of unprecedented monetary expansion this year,” Saylor said in a message to Reuters.
“Bitcoin is the best solution for depositing the value problem that every individual, investor and corporation on earth faces,” Saylor said.
Tesla shares rose to a record high on a frantic trading day on Friday as investors prepared for the long-awaited entry of the electric vehicle manufacturer on Monday in the S&P 500 benchmark.
Bitcoin rose to a high of $ 24,299.75 on Sunday, after hitting $ 20,000 for the first time last week amid rising investor interest. Bitcoin was last at $ 23.60.98, up 2.88%.
Reporting by Suzanne Barlyn; edited by Diane Craft