Elon Musk, president of Tesla and SpaceX, who recently became the richest man in the world, has a complicated and interesting relationship with Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
In the past few years, Musk and cryptocurrency have been interacting.
Although he has endorsed digital assets many times and greatly influenced the prices of Dogecoin and BTC through recent Twitter activities, some people have even further speculated that this billionaire may be the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto (shocked face).
Most importantly, on February 8th, Tesla announced by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin, which confirmed the billionaire's positive stance on digital assets.
In this paper, we list the important events related to Musk and Bitcoin to reveal the relationship between this billionaire and encryption technology.
Elon Musk called Bitcoin a "good thing", but thought it was mainly used for illegal transactions
The relationship between Elon Musk and Bitcoin began in October 2014, when the billionaire was interviewed at the Vanity Fair New Enterprise SummitnameBitcoin is a "good thing".
After the host Walter Isaacson asked questions, Musk added that Bitcoin is mainly used for illegal transactions.
"I think bitcoin may be a good thing. I think it will mainly become a means of illegal transactions. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. You know, some things may not be illegal. " He said.
In addition to disclosing that he didn't hold BTC at that time, the person in charge of Tesla added that this cryptocurrency is "useful for both legal and illegal transactions".
Musk disclosed BTC's currency holding situation and declared that he was not Satoshi Nakamoto
Sahil Gupta, a former intern of SpaceX, Musk' s space transportation company, in November 2017expressThis billionaire is probably Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin.
His theory is mainly based on Musk's "deep understanding of economics and cryptography" and his technical ability.
However, Musk himself later denied this claim, calling it "untrue". atSame tweetMusk also revealed that he only holds a small amount of BTC that his friend transferred to him before.
Twitter hacker and fake Elon Musk's encryption scam
Perhaps because of the interesting interaction between the billionaire and Bitcoin, Elon Musk has always been a favorite of cryptocurrency swindlers.
Especially during the period from 2017 to 2019, Musk was repeatedly impersonated by cybercriminals to lure victims with fraudulent digital asset plans.
November, 2018Hackers got access to verified Twitter accounts, and they used these accounts to impersonate Musk and collected nearly $170,000 with fake gifts.
A similar thing happened inJuly 2020. However, this time, Tesla's Twitter account was hacked, and fraudsters used the billionaire's account on social media platform to promote false gifts and investment opportunities.
Musk called the structure of Bitcoin "exquisite" and praised Ethereum
In February 2019, he accepted the investment manager ARK InvestinterviewAt that time, Musk said that the structure of Bitcoin was "quite exquisite", that this cryptocurrency was a "better way to transfer value than paper money", and that "paper money is disappearing".
In addition to praising Bitcoin, Musk also said, "Ethereum also has some advantages, and maybe some other currencies also have advantages. "
On the other hand, the head of SpaceX criticized the energy-intensive nature of cryptocurrency, which is considered as "one of the shortcomings of cryptocurrency".
Dogecoin skyrocketed
In addition to Bitcoin, Elon Musk has repeatedly stood on the platform of digital cash Dogecoin inspired by Duan Zi.
In April, 2019, Dogecoin posted a vote on Twitter, allowing users to "elect" the new CEO of this digital asset project.
Elon Musk from candidates such as Litecoin founder Charlie Lee, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, and Metal Pay head Marshall Hayner,Got itThe largest number of votes, in the "election" won more than 54%.
In response to this vote, the newly elected CEO of Dog Ecoin,In the tweet,Said that this digital asset inspired by the paragraph "may be" his favorite cryptocurrency.
Except in March 2020,Send a tweetIn addition to calling the dog "the best currency," Musk also posted a picture in July 2020 with the caption "it's inevitable," showing that the "dogecoin standard" has taken over the global financial system.After his tweet, dogecoin's price rose 14% that day.
Something similar happened on December 20, muskTweet"One word: Doge" and changed his resume to "former CEO of dogecoin", which pushed the price of dogecoin up by 25%.
Interestingly, other celebrities later joined the ranks to praise dogecoin, such as rapper Snoop Dogg, who was on twitterreleaseA picture is attached with an album cover that mimics "snoop Doge.".
Musk changed twitter profile to "bitcoin" and BTC
On January 29, Elon Musk introduced his twitter profileChange to"Bitcoin," the billionaire said in a follow-up tweet, "in retrospect, it's inevitable.".
Bitcoin soared 20% on the day because of his twitter move, and then its price fell from $38000 to nearly $33000 on January 30.
A few days later, musk published it on the social audio app clubhousespeech"Bitcoin is a good thing", but he is "late". He should have bought BTC eight years ago.
Interestingly, the billionaire admitted that his dogecoin tweet was meant to be a joke and that he didn't think much about cryptocurrencies other than special coins.
Tesla invested $1.5 billion to buy BTC and plans to accept bitcoin payments
The hottest event in the history of Elon Musk and bitcoin may have happened on February 8, when Tesla, the billionaire LED electric car maker, appeared in a securities and Exchange Commission filingannounceIt has bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin.
As a result of this move, Tesla hasbecomeThe second largest BTC holder in listed companies, after MicroStrategy, a business analyst.
According to SEC documents, the electric car maker believes it bought bitcoin to "diversify more flexibly and maximize the return on cash holdings.".
In addition to announcing the purchase of $1.5 billion of BTC, Tesla said it would begin to accept bitcoin payments for its products "initially on a limited basis" in accordance with applicable law.
After the company announced the news, bitcoin soared, soaring from $39200 to $44300 in 40 minutes, and further appreciated to $48200 the next day.