SpaceX tycoon Elon Musk just did with bitcoin what he famously does with rockets: he sent it soaring toward the Moon.
After days of consolidation around the $30,000 price mark, the leading cryptocurrency blasted off, triggered by the tech titan’s decision to change his Twitter bio to one highly potent word – “#Bitcoin.”
The Tesla founder, who has alluded to his interest in bitcoin in past tweets, later commented, “In retrospect, it was inevitable.”
When the billionaire’s millions of followers noticed the change, the price immediately soared to $38,429, before correcting down to $34,209 at the time of publication, according to CoinMarketCap.
There has been speculation that Musk may follow the lead of maverick CEO Michael Saylor and shift part of his empire’s treasury into bitcoin as a hedge against US dollar debasement. Such a move would likely be made discreetly in multiple tranches through over-the-counter desks in order to avoid exciting the market and driving the price up.
Saylor, founder of business intelligence firm Microstrategy, has offered to show him how to execute the conversion, a move he says has become necessary for all companies holding large amounts of cash because the US dollar is “a melting ice cube.”
Whether Musk’s bio change is a signal that he intends to proceed with such a move, has already made it, or is simply amusing himself like a Bond villain remains to be seen.
Dogecoin pump
Meanwhile, Dogecoin, a meme crypto favored by the eccentric tech mogul, has skyrocketed in value thanks to a pump orchestrated by WallStreetBets, the Reddit retail trader group that famously deep-sixed hedge funds that shorted GameStop.