Ethereum price rises after Elon Musk confirms he owns the cryptocurrency
The price of ethereum rose Wednesday afternoon after Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said he owns the cryptocurrency at The B-Word conference, an event hosted by the Crypto Council for Innovation.
Ethereum, which was already rallying on the day, touched its high of the session after Musk’s mention. It was last up more than 12% and near the highs of the day.
Musk also repeated his support for cryptocurrency in general, despite potential environmental risks, saying, “One thing you do need to watch out for with crypto, especially bitcoin, using proof of work, using energy that’s a bit too much and not necessarily good for the environment.”
As bitcoin mining is increasingly powered by renewable energy, Musk said, Tesla will likely move to accept bitcoin for transactions once again.
Musk also said that at this time, the only publicly traded stock he owns is Tesla’s, and that he personally owns some bitcoin, dogecoin and ethereum. “The only significant thing I own outside of Tesla is SpaceX,” he noted, having helped create both companies.
He also said he has been holding his bitcoin long-term.
“If the price of bitcoin goes down I lose money. I might pump but I don’t dump,” Musk said. “I definitely do not believe in getting the price high and selling or anything like that. I would like to see bitcoin succeed.”
Musk also confirmed that both Tesla and SpaceX own bitcoin, and no other cryptocurrency at this time.
The B-Word conference was established to “demystify,” “de-stigmatize” and “correct the mainstream narrative” around the cryptocurrency bitcoin and promote its institutional acceptance and use.
Musk is speaking on a panel alongside Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment company Square and Musk’s favorite social media platform Twitter, along with ARK Invest CEO and founder Cathie Wood, who are answering questions from moderator and Square Crypto lead Steve Lee.
Ethereum price shoots above $2k after Elon Musk reveals he personally invested in bitcoin rival
The price of Ethereum (ether) has shot up after Elon Musk revealed that he personally invested in the cryptocurrency.
The technology billionaire was speaking at The ₿ Word conference on Wednesday, alongside Twitter CEO and prominent crypto advocate Jack Dorsey, with his comments pushing the bitcoin rival above $2,000.
“Bitcoin does some things well, and it’s evolving… Usability for the average person is not great but it has a lot of potential,” he said.
“On balance I support bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general.”
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Earlier this year, the Tesla boss made headlines after announcing that his company would accept bitcoin as a form of payment for electric cars, however subsequently backtracked after citing environmental concerns about bitcoin’s network.
The cryptocurrency has since shifted more towards renewable energy sources following a major crackdown in China on bitcoin mining operations, which were largely powered by coal-fuelled power plants.
Tesla also announced a $1.5 billion investment into bitcoin in February, making it the world’s second largest corporate investor behind the software firm MicroStrategy.
A small portion of this was subsequently sold off but the majority continues to be held by Tesla despite the recent price slide.
After reaching an all-time high above $64,000 in mid April, bitcoin’s price has fallen to around half its peak value and is currently trading at just above $32,000.
Market movements have often been attributed to comments made by Mr Musk, with the price surge and crash both coinciding with Tesla’s acceptance and rejection of the cryptocurrency.
Elon Musk says SpaceX owns Bitcoin and he owns Ethereum in Jack Dorsey talk
Elon Musk confirmed both Tesla and SpaceX own Bitcoin during his discussion with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood today.
In his opening remarks at The B Word panel, Musk said he is ultimately a supporter of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite his skepticism towards proof of work concepts. He said the only public stock he owns is Tesla, but the only “three meaningful assets” he owns outside of company stock is bitcoin, ether and dogecoin, and that he owns “much more bitcoin than ether or doge.”
In addition to his private holdings, he confirmed SpaceX also owns bitcoin. Musk made headlines earlier this year when he added $1.5 billion in BTC to electric vehicle firm Tesla’s balance sheet. Because SpaceX is private, it was previously unknown that the space exploration tech firm also had a portion of its holdings in the crypto.
Musk did not disclose how much SpaceX holds. The firm could wade further into crypto, though, according to Musk’s comments.
“Bitcoin by itself cannot be the monetary system of the world at the base layer, but at the second layer it’s possible depending on how it’s implemented," said Musk.
He said SpaceX is “playing a role in this” vision for Bitcoin’s future, although he did not further clarify how the firm is furthering that mission.
Energy renewables
Musk reiterated Tesla will resume accepting bitcoin when the renewable energy sources reach 50%. Tesla could also play a role in solving this problem, according to Musk, since it has strong connections in the renewables industry in addition to its own solar solutions.
“Energy production doesn’t have to be pure as the driven snow, but it can’t be the world’s dirtiest coal…for Tesla to support it,” he said.
Musk also said he’s “pro nuclear” and that nuclear plants are safe despite public opinion, although he clarified that he’s talking about “fission not fusion.”
“At Tesla we really do aspire to be the good guys…that doesn’t mean we don’t make mistakes, but we’re trying,” he said.
Wood contended that the network is already well on its way in comparison to other industries.
“I really do believe that bitcoin will be much more environmentally friendly certainly than gold mining or the traditional financial services sector. In many ways, it already is," she said.
Dorsey and decentralization
Musk inquired whether Twitter would consider accepting advertising money in crypto.
Dorsey said “absolutely,” although it’s not his main focus. He noted that had crypto been around at the dawn of the internet, the advertiser model may not be so prevalent in the social media space.
But since advertisers are the reality, he’s focused on furthering the decentralized aspects of the crypto community. For that reason, Dorsey said his “biggest focus” is on BlueSky — his decentralized social media project. It remains early days, according to Dorsey.
How it came together
Musk and Dorsey first agreed to take the stage together at The B Word event following a discussion on Twitter. Dorsey tweeted in support of the event, and Musk responded that the event title perhaps referred to “bicurious” rather than the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Dorsey quipped that the comment was “bizarre” and then suggested the two have a talk for what Musk later called the “Bitcurious.”
ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood also shared the stage with Musk and Dorsey, filling out the financial services point of view on the cryptocurrency.
Dorsey has long been a Bitcoin advocate and Lightning network champion. He recently spoke at Bitcoin 2021 in Miami, Florida, where he announced his payments company Square has plans to develop a bitcoin hardware wallet. Last week, Dorsey also announced Square will build an “open developer platform” for bitcoin-tied financial services. Square also has stake in the success of the Bitcoin network, holding about 1% of its assets in bitcoin after a $50 million purchase last October.
Despite his historically zealous takes on cryptocurrency, Musk stands as a skeptic to Dorsey’s Bitcoin believer. Once an advocate for the Bitcoin, he has since grown wary of the environmental implications. After adding “Bitcoin” to his Twitter bio, putting $1.5 billion worth of BTC on Tesla’s balance sheet and enabling payments for electric vehicles in the cryptocurrency, Musk abruptly changed course.
He expressed concern over the electricity use of the bitcoin mining community. Tesla discontinued bitcoin payments — although Musk later posted a Twitter poll on whether the firm should instead accept Dogecoin. He also now endorses the meme-themed token in his Twitter bio. Still, he said he remained interested in finding solutions and even took a meeting with MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, who subsequently organized the so-called Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) to combat negative media narratives surrounding mining.