Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Elon Musk hints Tesla has dumped Bitcoin holdings

CEO tweets ‘indeed’ in response to post about divesting from cryptocurrency

Tom Batchelor,Sam Hancock
Sunday 16 May 2021 23:54 BST
Comments
Elon Musk jokes about Dogecoin on SNL
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted the company may sell – or have already sold – its bitcoin holdings in a Twitter exchange that triggered a sharp fall in the value of the cryptocurrency.

After Twitter user @cryptowhale wrote: “Bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #Bitcoin holdings.

“With the amount of hate @elonmusk is getting, I wouldn’t blame him…”

Mr Musk replied with a single word: “Indeed.”

Bitcoin dipped around 8 per cent to $44,000 (£31,210) per coin as a result.

It comes after Tesla last week suspended vehicle purchases using the cryptocurrency over concerns Mr Musk said he had about the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining”. Bitcoin’s value dropped then too, by 5 per cent in the first five minutes after the announcement.

Mr Musk, also CEO and founder of SpaceX, has been a big supporter of cryptocurrencies, helping to rally the prices of digital coins such as bitcoin several times in the past year.

Official documents released in February showed that Tesla had bought $1.5bn worth of bitcoin. The company later said it registered a net gain of $101m from sales of bitcoin during the quarter, helping to boost its net profits to a record high in the first quarter.

But critics believe Mr Musk may have moved on to dogecoin in recent weeks, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, after SpaceX announced recently it would accept it as payment to launch its “DOGE-1 mission to the Moon”.

Commenting on Mr Musk’s cryptocurrency stance, venture investor Fred Wilson, a founding partner of Union Square Ventures, tweeted on Friday: “He’s playing games. It is hard to take anyone who does that seriously. I’ve lost enormous respect for him over the last year because of it.”

He added: “Deep respect for what he does with his talents. Less for what he does with his tweets.”

Tesla is yet to comment on the remarks made by its CEO on Twitter this evening.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in