Elon Musk made these remarks during a pro-Bitcoin conference called ‘The B Word.
Elon Musk, speaking at an online conference called ‘The B Word,’ revealed that his aerospace technology company SpaceX had made an investment in the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
“I do own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin,” he said, revealing that he also personally owns Ethereum and Dogecoin.
It is hoped that the conference will “explain how institutions can embrace Bitcoin and how we all can support the network,” according to the conference’s official website.
It is being organised by the Crypto Council for Innovation, which is a consortium of financial services businesses that have made investments in the cryptocurrency area.
Musk spoke on the second panel of the day, titled “Bitcoin as a Tool for Economic Empowerment,” alongside two of today’s most ardently pro-Bitcoin executives: Cathie Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest, and Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square. Musk is the founder and CEO of Tesla Motors and the founder and CEO of SpaceX.
There is a strong possibility that the entire event could come across as a bit propaganda-heavy: the stated goals of the conference’s first panel include “correct[ing] mainstream narratives about Bitcoin” and “debunking[ing] the most common Bitcoin myths.”
Square, a member of the Crypto Council for Innovation, published a report earlier this year arguing that Bitcoin mining, a famously energy-intensive operation that is still highly reliant on fossil fuels in many parts of the world, actually encourages the use of renewable energy. It is a notion that has been roundly criticised by climate scientists and analysts.
Musk, while still the most influential crypto influencer, has not been quite as enthusiastic as he once was. Tesla said in February that it will begin accepting Bitcoin as payment, but the company reversed course just a few months later, citing concerns about the cryptocurrency’s environmental impact.
Crypto critics are routinely dismissed as “FUD” (short for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”), which has become a time-honoured tradition among the technology’s most enthusiastic advocates.
Every naysayer is countered by a laser-eyed maximalist; fortunately for investors, conferences like ‘The B Word’ are likely to continue indefinitely.
