6 ms·

A funny thing for Elon Musk to do would be: Tesla Inc. buys some Bitcoin. Tesla announces that Bitcoin is good now and that it bought some. The price of Bitc

A funny thing for Elon Musk to do would be: Tesla Inc. buys some Bitcoin. Tesla announces that Bitcoin is good now and that it bought some. The price of Bitcoin goes up, because institutional adoption of Bitcoin is good for its price, but also because, by the Elon Markets Hypothesis, anything that Musk buys goes up. Tesla sells some Bitcoin, making a profit. Musk tweets that the price of Bitcoin is too high. Bitcoin prices go down due to the Elon Markets Hypothesis. Go to Step 1. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-22/electric-bills-are-a-gamble-too?sref=1kJVNqnU https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-22/electr...

agumonkey 5y ago
There's also a few potential compounding layers in this. - big corp buys btc, makes btc legit, raises confidence and price - new cryptomillionaire find new friend in musk, and consider tesla the car brand of crypto, spend their money on tesla, including bitcoin, so tesla bitcoin wallet grows, while the company value grows while the asset grows.. it's all shower thought but I found it a fun business trick
londons_explore 5y ago
Would such a strategy be illegal?
- ivalm 5y ago
  Only if it is provable that the intent was to trick other people into buying Bitcoin so you can sell it (pump and dump). For something big like Bitcoin it would be hard to prove. For penny stocks it happens and does get prosecuted.
- iaw 5y ago
  In most asset classes: yes. In crypto: nope.
- sarsway 5y ago
  Welcome to the wild west of Crypto. People have been doing this or similar schemes since 2010. But I don't think that was Elon's intention. He has pretty good point after all. Bitcoin just produced too much unnecessary CO2, so it's simply not gonna work as a money replacement. I think more people start to realize this, but are still a bit reluctant to sell their BTC.
  - sim_card_map 5y ago
    hasn't like 99% of it been mined already?
    - whomst 5y ago
      competition from miners to accept fees will still exist
  - bourgwaletariat 5y ago
    It was absolutely his intention. Everyone who owns bitcoin wants it to go up. This is exactly a pump and dump strategy. He went on SNL to make a broader market aware of it, then in the interest it created, he offloads his shares? Smartest guy on the planet, claiming to be saving it from climate change didn't know Bitcoin damages the environment? If he didn't already know that, then can he be trusted? If he did know that, can he be trusted?
    - sarsway 5y ago
      Actually yeah who knows. It does make Tesla investment into Bitcoin look completely naive and shortsighted. They surely should have known a few month ago? Did they even start selling cars for coins? Also probably a good idea to check the real CO2 numbers, they often get extrapolated I think.
  - liquidify 5y ago
    Keep in mind that bitcoin is software. It can, and will be upgraded. If Ethereum ends up leading the way with proof of stake and it ends up being a success, then there is no reason to believe that bitcoin wouldn't follow in its footsteps. Crypto is a concept, as much as it is an individual coin game. Bitcoin may not end up being the leader, but your money will definitely change in the future, and it will absolutely be because of crypto currencies.
- xwdv 5y ago
  Is bitcoin regulated?
  - syntheticcdo 5y ago
    No, but fraud is.
    - xwdv 5y ago
      You need regulation to combat fraud.
- rasputnik6502 5y ago
  I don't know if selling bitcoin is legal, because it's unclear how money value is assigned to that. But as long as both parties agree to transaction all seems OK. And in case one party later feels they have been tricked - well, anonymity helps a lot :)
- tim333 5y ago
  Not really, if the buyer/seller is not actually lying.
learnstats2 5y ago
I’d wager instead: the price of all crypto goes down. Tesla buys into some unknown proof-of-stake coin.

agumonkey 5y ago

There's also a few potential compounding layers in this. - big corp buys btc, makes btc legit, raises confidence and price - new cryptomillionaire find new friend in musk, and consider tesla the car brand of crypto, spend their money on tesla, including bitcoin, so tesla bitcoin wallet grows, while the company value grows while the asset grows.. it's all shower thought but I found it a fun business trick

londons_explore 5y ago

Would such a strategy be illegal?

ivalm 5y ago
Only if it is provable that the intent was to trick other people into buying Bitcoin so you can sell it (pump and dump). For something big like Bitcoin it would be hard to prove. For penny stocks it happens and does get prosecuted.
iaw 5y ago
In most asset classes: yes. In crypto: nope.
sarsway 5y ago
Welcome to the wild west of Crypto. People have been doing this or similar schemes since 2010. But I don't think that was Elon's intention. He has pretty good point after all. Bitcoin just produced too much unnecessary CO2, so it's simply not gonna work as a money replacement. I think more people start to realize this, but are still a bit reluctant to sell their BTC.
- sim_card_map 5y ago
  hasn't like 99% of it been mined already?
  - whomst 5y ago
    competition from miners to accept fees will still exist
- bourgwaletariat 5y ago
  It was absolutely his intention. Everyone who owns bitcoin wants it to go up. This is exactly a pump and dump strategy. He went on SNL to make a broader market aware of it, then in the interest it created, he offloads his shares? Smartest guy on the planet, claiming to be saving it from climate change didn't know Bitcoin damages the environment? If he didn't already know that, then can he be trusted? If he did know that, can he be trusted?
  - sarsway 5y ago
    Actually yeah who knows. It does make Tesla investment into Bitcoin look completely naive and shortsighted. They surely should have known a few month ago? Did they even start selling cars for coins? Also probably a good idea to check the real CO2 numbers, they often get extrapolated I think.
- liquidify 5y ago
  Keep in mind that bitcoin is software. It can, and will be upgraded. If Ethereum ends up leading the way with proof of stake and it ends up being a success, then there is no reason to believe that bitcoin wouldn't follow in its footsteps. Crypto is a concept, as much as it is an individual coin game. Bitcoin may not end up being the leader, but your money will definitely change in the future, and it will absolutely be because of crypto currencies.
xwdv 5y ago
Is bitcoin regulated?
- syntheticcdo 5y ago
  No, but fraud is.
  - xwdv 5y ago
    You need regulation to combat fraud.
rasputnik6502 5y ago
I don't know if selling bitcoin is legal, because it's unclear how money value is assigned to that. But as long as both parties agree to transaction all seems OK. And in case one party later feels they have been tricked - well, anonymity helps a lot :)
tim333 5y ago
Not really, if the buyer/seller is not actually lying.

learnstats2 5y ago

I’d wager instead: the price of all crypto goes down. Tesla buys into some unknown proof-of-stake coin.