Elon Musk trolls Bitcoin, sparks debate with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor
It is a normal early Sunday morning except that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk fired a series of tweets trolling bitcoin, shilling dogecoin, and partially breaking the crypto Twitter.
Given Musk’s standing as a successful entrepreneur, his Twitter storm, whether taking a dig at bitcoin or not, is good for the broader cryptocurrency industry.
He brought industry experts and enthusiasts together, and while bitcoin critics jumped in on the debate, it shone some light on bitcoin. The industry has been getting some attention lately, emanating from bitcoin setting new records, institutions betting on digital assets, and the U.S. Treasury Department proposing dreaded crypto rules.
And Musk brought some ray of sunshine to the cryptocurrency industry, intentionally or otherwise, to cap off what has been a record-breaking week for the emerging market.
Musk calls bitcoin as “BS as fiat money”
Unprovoked and out of nowhere, the slightly eccentric tech entrepreneur and engineer tweeted that bitcoin was his safe word.Bitcoin is my safe word
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2020
Shortly afterward, he doubled down, saying that he was “just kidding” because “who needs a safe word anyway.”
Gemini cryptocurrency exchange founder Tyler Winklevoss responded to Musk, claiming that bitcoin was his safe word too.
And many more crypto figures, aroused by Musk’s tweets, jumped in on the thread.
Tron founder and CEO Justin Sun said that Tesla was his safe word. In March 2019, Sun hosted a competition in which he promised to give away a Tesla. After the competition was mishandled, he ended up giving away two Teslas.
In another tweet, Musk, who is now the second richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $153.5 billion, said “bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat money.”
Bitcoin was built on the premise that it is a medium of exchange not controlled by governments and central banks. It was intended to function as a means of payment, which it still does, but many in the industry see it as an investment asset with a potential of higher returns.
On the other hand, fiat money is subject to currency debasement and inflation when policymakers print more money.
Michael Saylor joins the chat
The President, Chairman, and CEO of business intelligence service provider MicroStrategy Michael Saylor joined the chat.Saylor was responding to a bitcoin meme tweeted by Musk.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 20, 2020
In his response, Saylor asked Musk to convert some of his Tesla balance sheet from fiat money to Bitcoin.
“If you want to do your shareholders a $100 million favor, covert the $TSLA balance sheet from USD to BTC. Other firms on the S&P500 would follow your lead & in time it would grow to become a $1 trillion favor.”
In response, Musk asked if “such large transactions” are “even possible.”
Tesla is gearing up to be included in the S&P500 on Monday. Tesla shares (TSLA) are up 730% in year-to-date (YTD) performance and have outperformed the stock market.
[caption id="attachment_20375" align="aligncenter" width="1381"]
Tesla shares up 730% in year-to-date performance | Credit / TradingView[/caption]
Binance cryptocurrency exchange founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao, who is better known by his moniker CZ, predicted that it is only a matter of time before either Musk or Tesla buys bitcoin.
Morgan Creek co-founder and bitcoin influencer Anthony Pompliano tweeted that the “internet will break if Elon Musk converts any of Tesla’s balance sheet into Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin has been buoyed by major traditional companies that have dipped into their balance sheets to buy bitcoins.
MicroStrategy has been on a bitcoin buying spree. Saylor claims to have spent $1.3 billion in the last few months buying bitcoin. He is willing to have an offline engagement with Musk.
Yes. I have purchased over $1.3 billion in #BTC in past months & would be happy to share my playbook with you offline - from one rocket scientist to another.
— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) December 20, 2020
Musk revealed earlier this year that he owns only 0.25BTC.
Gold bull and long-time bitcoin critic warned Musk against buying bitcoin, calling the digital asset a pyramid scheme.
Elon, don't fall for this con. Michael, like all involved in the #Bitcoin pyramid scheme, must recruit new buyers into the scheme to keep it going. Do leave Tesla shareholders holding the same bag as Mircrostrategy shareholders.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 20, 2020
If Musk buys bitcoin, the digital asset won’t “go to the moon,” but to Mars, at least according to cryptocurrency fanatics. This is in reference to SpaceX’s mission to colonize Mars.
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