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So bizarre that he would tweet this after coming out against Bitcoin for environmental reasons. The higher the price goes, the greater the incentive to spend mo

by NickM 5y ago

So bizarre that he would tweet this after coming out against Bitcoin for environmental reasons. The higher the price goes, the greater the incentive to spend more electricity on mining; for anyone who cares about the environment this crash is great news.

stephc_int13 5y ago
I think the guy is not completely sane, to be honest. Also, not as smart as most people tend to think he is.
- margalabargala 5y ago
  Could be that he has separate money pools, and his "toy with markets for amusement" money is kept apart from his "get to Mars" money. It isn't "not smart" if he's just viewing it as a game and he has the means to do so. Lots of people have messed around with various systems for no reason other than to see if they can.
  - stephc_int13 5y ago
    He has been vocal on many subjects unrelated to Bitcoin and came out "not so smart" in my opinion. It is easy to intellectually overestimate someone with this kind of success and reach.
  - Ekaros 5y ago
    I don't think he has "get to Mars" money. It's just fun idea to sell and think about it. Like hyper loop, boring company, solar roof and so on... He got traction and now he just keeps throwing things at the wall...
- hawk_ 5y ago
  "some people just want to watch the world burn". he's a master troll, is the simplest explanation.
GhostVII 5y ago
He also cares about Tesla stock price though, and that is significantly down today since they have so much Bitcoin holdings.
- strikelaserclaw 5y ago
  i get that Tesla is revolutionary in the car industry but it's stock pretty much goes up and down like a cryptocurrency. I have a strong feeling that people who love tesla stock also own crypto.
  - stephc_int13 5y ago
    Is it revolutionary? What is the innovation behind it?
    - root_axis 5y ago
      Tesla is the preeminent electric vehicle and is pushing the entire industry forward as every manufacturer races towards producing their own luxury electric vehicle to compete with Tesla. It's a very similar dynamic to how the iPhone revolutionized mobile phones. With that stated, I don't attribute this success to Elon Musk beyond his ability to lie his way into sustaining the company's valuation so that the engineers could do the hard work.
    - 8note 5y ago
      Marketing. They've marketed non fossil fuel vehicles to consumers, which other car companies have not managed to do
      - Ekaros 5y ago
        Lies like autopilot and self-driving too...
nmfisher 5y ago
If Tesla actually did not sell its BTC holdings, then today's plunge could have seriously affected its quarterly earnings (I'm not 100% sure how the accounting works, but they may have had to revalue their BTC holdings which would show as a loss on their P&L). Tesla's addition to the S&P500 has gone a long way to propping up that share price and while one quarter in the red wouldn't be enough to boot them from the index, they're still in a precarious position when it comes to profitability. I don't think Musk is stupid enough to risk the share price on a Bitcoin bet. So this is a roundabout way of saying "Musk probably has a considerable vested interest in keeping the price of BTC above $40k". But I also believe - without proof, mind you - that they have sold at least 50% of their holdings at a profit anyway, so their downside is capped.

by NickM 5y ago

stephc_int13 5y ago

I think the guy is not completely sane, to be honest. Also, not as smart as most people tend to think he is.

margalabargala 5y ago
Could be that he has separate money pools, and his "toy with markets for amusement" money is kept apart from his "get to Mars" money. It isn't "not smart" if he's just viewing it as a game and he has the means to do so. Lots of people have messed around with various systems for no reason other than to see if they can.
- stephc_int13 5y ago
  He has been vocal on many subjects unrelated to Bitcoin and came out "not so smart" in my opinion. It is easy to intellectually overestimate someone with this kind of success and reach.
- Ekaros 5y ago
  I don't think he has "get to Mars" money. It's just fun idea to sell and think about it. Like hyper loop, boring company, solar roof and so on... He got traction and now he just keeps throwing things at the wall...
hawk_ 5y ago
"some people just want to watch the world burn". he's a master troll, is the simplest explanation.

GhostVII 5y ago

He also cares about Tesla stock price though, and that is significantly down today since they have so much Bitcoin holdings.

strikelaserclaw 5y ago
i get that Tesla is revolutionary in the car industry but it's stock pretty much goes up and down like a cryptocurrency. I have a strong feeling that people who love tesla stock also own crypto.
- stephc_int13 5y ago
  Is it revolutionary? What is the innovation behind it?
  - root_axis 5y ago
    Tesla is the preeminent electric vehicle and is pushing the entire industry forward as every manufacturer races towards producing their own luxury electric vehicle to compete with Tesla. It's a very similar dynamic to how the iPhone revolutionized mobile phones. With that stated, I don't attribute this success to Elon Musk beyond his ability to lie his way into sustaining the company's valuation so that the engineers could do the hard work.
  - 8note 5y ago
    Marketing. They've marketed non fossil fuel vehicles to consumers, which other car companies have not managed to do
    - Ekaros 5y ago
      Lies like autopilot and self-driving too...

nmfisher 5y ago

If Tesla actually did not sell its BTC holdings, then today's plunge could have seriously affected its quarterly earnings (I'm not 100% sure how the accounting works, but they may have had to revalue their BTC holdings which would show as a loss on their P&L). Tesla's addition to the S&P500 has gone a long way to propping up that share price and while one quarter in the red wouldn't be enough to boot them from the index, they're still in a precarious position when it comes to profitability. I don't think Musk is stupid enough to risk the share price on a Bitcoin bet. So this is a roundabout way of saying "Musk probably has a considerable vested interest in keeping the price of BTC above $40k". But I also believe - without proof, mind you - that they have sold at least 50% of their holdings at a profit anyway, so their downside is capped.