Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted on Saturday that in a battle between fiat and cryptocurrencies, his support is with crypto.
Two days ago, Musk assured that he has not sold any of his dogecoin holdings and will not sell any. https://bit.ly/3hLz6LN
“The true battle is between fiat & crypto. On balance, I support the latter,” he said on Twitter in reply to a user who asked him what his thoughts were about people who were angry at him because of crypto.
Musk has previously compared bitcoin to fiat money and often tweets about cryptocurrencies that have sent values for bitcoin and the meme digital currency dogecoin up and down.
In February, bitcoin shot higher after Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency and would soon accept it as a form of payment for cars. read more
However, bitcoin slumped after the billionaire announced in May that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company’s position on the cryptocurrency.
Earlier this month, he also called the cryptocurrency a “hustle” during his guest-host spot on the “Saturday Night Live” comedy sketch TV show, leading prices to tumble.
The bitcoin price dropped by as much as 30 per cent in the middle of the week after the People’s Bank of China issued a warning to the country’s financial institutions against using the digital currencies for payments — a message it reiterated just a few days later. Chinese authorities have also launched a crackdown on bitcoin “mining” — the process whereby computers unlock the coins.
Ether on the Ethereum blockchain meanwhile was seeing an even more severe slump, down at one point 18 per cent at $1,922 on the session and down by nearly 60% from its all-time high hit earlier this month at $4,382.73. It was last down 13 per cent at 2,033.
REUTERS