Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of Tesla, has mostly steered clear of bitcoin and crypto comments following the bitcoin price crash in 2022 (even as fellow billionaire Mark Cuban makes a “crazy” bitcoin price prediction).
The bitcoin price has however surged back, topping its late 2021 peak and climbing over $70,000 per bitcoin as Wall Street adoption and Donald Trump’s crypto conversion powering the market higher.
Now, after Musk issued a shock warning over the future of the U.S. dollar, the fickle billionaire has broken his long silence on bitcoin, saying he sees “some merit” in it.
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Tesla billionaire Elon Musk remains one of the bitcoin and crypto market’s prime movers, with his … [+]
“I do think there’s some merit in bitcoin, and maybe some other crypto,” Musk said during an interview broadcast on YouTube. “I’ve sort of got a soft spot for [the meme-based bitcoin rival] dogecoin because I like dogs and memes,” Musk added.
Musk helped the bitcoin price surge into 2021, pulling dogecoin and the wider crypto market with it, when he added $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to Tesla’s balance sheet.
However, he subsequently crashed the bitcoin price when he first rolled back plans to Tesla to accept bitcoin as payment and then by selling the majority of Tesla’s bitcoin to eek out a profitable quarter in 2022.
Tesla still holds almost 10,000 bitcoin worth nearly $650 million on its balance sheet.
Musk has meanwhile been teasing a number of upgrades to his social media company X that some bitcoin and crypto traders think could transform the market.
“The circle will be complete,” Musk posted to X in March alongside an image linking X with his old payments company that became PayPal.
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The bitcoin price has surged back over the last year even as Elon Musk remained silent on bitcoin … [+]
In April, speaking at a Tesla factory, Elon Musk teased the possibility of buying Tesla cars with dogecoin—declaring “dogecoin to the moon” despite revealing what he thinks is the “true currency” last month.
X, formally known as Twitter, has quietly been acquiring money-transmitter licenses across the U.S. over the last year, with Musk saying he plans to “revolutionize” payments in 2024.
In May, Musk denied reports he “discussed crypto” with former U.S. president and 2024 Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump.
“Pretty sure I’ve never discussed crypto with Trump, although I am generally in favor of things that shift power from government to the people, which crypto can do,” Musk wrote in a post on X at the time.
