A light tweet on Twitter and it is the storm on the course of cryptocurrencies. Elon Musk is certainly having fun with the butterfly effect he has been producing for several years in the booming market of these digital currencies. When it swings, on December 20, 2020, “bitcoin is almost as rotten as fiat currencies”, the course loses 20% of its value in stride. Three months later, change of tone. On February 8, 2021, Tesla announced that it accepted it as a means of payment after its boss added “#bitcoin” to the presentation of his Twitter account. The price soars by 20% instantly.
“In 2021, Elon Musk became an influencer on the course, summarizes Ludovic Desmedt, professor of economics at the University of Burgundy. He managed to accept bitcoins for Tesla while finally refusing them three months later for ecological considerations. .” The price plunging again by 12%.
The boss of SpaceX is like some cryptocurrencies: volatile, secretive and elusive. Few discern an ounce of rationality in the behavior of the star entrepreneur, who revealed last summer to have invested in three of them: bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin. Dogecoin alone can sum up the spirit in which Musk approaches this universe. Born from a joke of two engineers in 2013, using the meme of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog as its logo, this currency is not based on anything and has no utility in itself. In mid-December, the boss of Tesla surprised, announcing that his brand would accept dogecoin. The price jumped 25%. “He tests his power over everything and anything,” thinks Ludovic Desmedt.
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In the crypto world, the man with 71 million Twitter followers was first seen as an evangelizer for the general public. Then by dint of reversals, the perception deteriorated. Michael Novogratz, founder of hedge fund Galaxy Digital, compared Tesla and bitcoin, arguing that “both are religions but one is much more risky because it is dependent solely on its god, Elon Musk”. His escapades fascinated. They are annoying now. “He was the best friend and the best enemy of cryptocurrencies, notes Nicolas Dufrêne, economist and director of the Rousseau Institute.
To understand his relationship to cryptos, you have to understand his relationship to money.” Before SpaceX and Tesla, Musk was interested in payment operators. It was he who created X.Com in 1999, better known now as the name of PayPal.”He sees the currency as a technological problem by having a utilitarian vision of it”, adds the director of this think tank.The entrepreneur has never hidden to be close to the libertarian current of Silicon Valley, intending to reduce the State to its minimum portion. Including in its sovereign tasks. “He sees the currency as a technological problem and has a utilitarian vision of it. Nicolas Dufrêne, economist and director of the Rousseau Institute .
Flirt with speculation
Still, his concerns might have a more down-to-earth reason. Its back and forth on these currencies, while holding them, could be assimilated to price manipulation… if they were regulated. “It’s a market very subject to rumors and gurus, decrypts Odile Lakomski-Laguerre, lecturer at the University of Picardie Jules-Verne. Like any crypto investor, he can play for personal enrichment and speculation.” Sign that Musk is testing his influence, since January 14 Tesla has accepted dogecoin well, after a new tweet. Only for brand goodies, not for its cars.