‘I might pump but I don’t dump’: Musk chat boosts Bitcoin; crypto recovers
Coinhead
Coinhead
Tech billionaire buddies Jack Dorsey (Square and Twitter CEO) and Elon Musk (Tesla, DOGE lover) have had their scheduled chat at today’s Bitcoin summit, The B Word. Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood was there, too, and the pep talk further boosted an already green day.
The virtual group chat was always going to be positive about Bitcoin, especially from Dorsey and Wood, who both helped organise the event, but it was Musk’s point of view that the crypto world was sweating on.
In general comments about everyone’s favourite citrus-coloured coin (not DOGE), Musk said that it “has a lot of potential” as a form of money and information system. and that he is “a supporter”.
“Outside of SpaceX and Tesla,” said Musk, the three biggest things I own [as an investor] are Bitcoin by far, and then some Ethereum and some DOGE.
“I am a Bitcoin supporter,” he said. “It doesn’t help me if the price goes down. I might pump but I don’t dump.”
Musk also confirmed that Tesla still owns Bitcoin, as does his aerospace company SpaceX.
As far as the recent negativity about Bitcoin chewing up electricity is concerned, largely kick-started by Musk himself, he had a relatively optimistic take. Musk said that there “appears to be a positive trend” in terms of Bitcoin reducing its carbon footprint.
The Tesla CEO reaffirmed his recent stipulation that Tesla would likely start accepting Bitcoin again as a means of payment if it could be shown that Bitcoin miners, across the board, use more than 50% renewable energy.
“Most likely the answer is that Tesla will resume accepting Bitcoin [as a form of payment],” he said.
As reported by CNBC today, new data from the University of Cambridge suggests that Bitcoin’s mining geography has been improving, even before the Chinese miner exodus, and this is reducing Bitcoin’s carbon footprint.
Another recent report, from the Bitcoin Mining Council, indicates that Bitcoin is already 56% mined on renewable energy. The council was set up by laser-eyed MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
Elon Musk is talking about nuclear energy in light of potentially using it for bitcoin mining.
That is the inevitable end game.
— Pomp 🌪 (@APompliano) July 21, 2021
As for Dogecoin, Musk revealed he’s partly in it for the memes, which hardly comes as a surprise.
“I love the fact it doesn’t take itself too seriously,” he said, insisting he also loves the thought of “the most ironic outcome”, meaning the fanciful idea of DOGE becoming the most successful cryptocurrency.
Elon Musk publicly announces he owns #Dogecoin for the first time 🚀🚀pic.twitter.com/ZhdSmePOFh
— Chairman (@WSBChairman) July 21, 2021
You can watch the full chat from The B Word summit here.
At the time of writing, the billionaire banter has helped give the whole crypto market a leg up from the doldrums of 24 hours ago. Although it was already in much better shape than yesterday before the conference began.
The market is currently 9.05% to the good, flexing in the mirror once more with a healthier US$1.35 trillion market cap.
Bitcoin was up 7.96% on the day and trading more confidently at US$32,167. It has now broken back up through important previous levels of support at $30K and $31K and has a short-term shot at reclaiming US$35,000, according to savvy chart watchers.
$BTC #BTC #Bitcoin is looking very good after holding double bottom near 29,247. Closing in on bullish MACD cross. Watch for potential @elonmusk pump at the upcoming conference. pic.twitter.com/43rJos9K1m
— A🍁G (@agstockpicks) July 21, 2021
The level at $31,000 broke and therefore we can potentially see continuation towards $35,000 (if $32,500 breaks too).
Full update on #Bitcoin given earlier:https://t.co/dSLbqfVI6E pic.twitter.com/fF9dE9BxIp
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) July 21, 2021
Meanwhile, Wellington-based crypto content creator Lark Davis was keeping things in check a little earlier in today’s mini-rally, providing a reminder how far down we are still from all time highs.
It’s probably a good thing to keep in mind before moving everything back off stablecoins and into dog memes. Anything can happen, and it remains to be seen if this little move up can sustain itself.
That sweet feeling when #bitcoin pumps a few percent…. but we are still 50% under ATH pic.twitter.com/ex0n9KP6zc
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) July 21, 2021
The second-largest crypto by market cap, Ethereum, was faring even better than Bitcoin, up 11% and flirting once more with its previously supportive US$2,000 mark.
Some notable gainers at press time today were: buzzy NFT gaming project Axie Infinity (+30%) and recovering some of its lost ground in the past few days; Polygon (+30%); Dash (+22.4%); THORChain (+22%); Theta (+17.9%) and The Graph (+15.1%).