- The news that Tesla has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin made headlines worldwide
- The anti-Bitcoin brigade couldn’t help bringing out their favorite pieces of FUD in response
- The usual suspects focused on the negative aspects of the Tesla news
It takes some doing to capture the world’s attention at the moment, but Tesla and Elon Musk managed it yesterday when the company revealed that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January. The sensational news, pre-empted by Musk with his pro-Bitcoin tweets last week, caught the attention of the world’s media and sent Bitcoin to new all-time highs, although some news outlets couldn’t help but throw salt at the development.
Tesla Bitcoin Buyup Brings Out the Critics
When we reported on Musk’s Bitcoin-related tweets last week we said that their true meaning was unclear and that we would have to wait and see what they meant. Yesterday Musk revealed exactly what they meant – Tesla had bought $1.5 billion worth bitcoin last month. The anti-Bitcoin media picked up on the news with their usual range of responses, with the Guardian reaching into its FUD bucket and bringing up a real doozy:
The Guardian seems to be suggesting that Elon Musk might lose or destroy the keys to his Bicoin wallet, which is a frankly bizarre take on the matter and represents a real grasping at straws.
Another Bitcoin-hating newspaper, the Financial Times, also couldn’t help having a dig, picking out one of the few negative points from the Tesla filing:
The Financial Times also stated that one of the issues of cryptocurrencies were the “difficulties in transferring them to cash”, which is utter nonsense and shows that they haven’t been trying very hard.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the story in typical Bitcoin bashing style too, claiming that the move showed that “capital markets have truly reached ludicrous mode”. They too focused on the volatility of cryptocurrencies, which it is worth remembering will only represent 7.7% of Tesla’s total capital, and also tried to claim that the Bitcoin story had buried bad news regarding Tesla car quality issues in China.
Schiff Joins the Protest Party
Of course, the crypto world has its own anti-Bitcoin brigade who were out in force:
So long before his public pump, @elonmusk used #Tesla funds to put $1.5 billion into #Bitcoin. I wonder how much has already been dumped, or is being dumped now into the news? It’s also likely that Tesla loaded up on #Dogecoin before he began pumping the superior crypto currency.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) February 8, 2021
Schiff’s belief that Tesla loaded up on DOGE and then sold it on the pump without having to inform the Securities and Exchange Commission is clearly bananas, as is his claim that Tesla sold a portion of their bitcoin after the 12% pump today. It also puts into perspective another tweet of his from December and shows that the man really has no idea what he’s talking about:
Musk is far too smart to be dumb enough to buy #Bitcoin. It’s just a matter of time before you realize that too.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) December 21, 2020
Tesla joins MicroStrategy as another NASDAQ-listed company entrusting a portion of its balance sheet into Bitcoin, which gives it a huge reputational boost and will likely encourage others into the space too.
