Elon Musk sends bitcoin on a rollercoaster ride

Entrepreneur Elon Musk has triggered extreme price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency bitcoin. In February he invested in bitcoin and began to accept it as a new means of payment, after which the price rose significantly. Then last week he suspended payments with the currency, pointing to bitcoin's poor environmental record, and triggered speculation that he may sell his bitcoin holdings - which has caused its price to plummet.

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Polityka (PL) /

Deliberate manipulation

For Polityka, Musk's statements are just part of a speculation strategy:

“When Musk succeeded in raising the cryptocurrency's price, Tesla quickly sold some of its bitcoins. The report for the first quarter of 2021 shows that Tesla raised 272 million dollars from the sale. ... For Tesla, this makes selling cryptocurrencies more profitable than selling electric cars. Tesla no longer needs to build large factories. All it needs is Twitter and the eloquent Elon, for whom Twitter is indispensable.”

The Independent (GB) /

Worthless computer code

Columnist Tim Mullaney explains in The Independent why in his view bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not the future:

“It's still accepted basically nowhere - and if there are five stores online that accept bitcoin on more favorable terms than the US dollar, I don't know of them. Name a single business process made more efficient if it's paid for in bitcoin rather than dollars. ... Don't even start on the notion that bitcoin is a currency or a store of value, or a hedge against inflation. The unstable price chart belies all of those notions, as does exposure to bitcoin advocates, none of whom will be running the Federal Reserve soon.”

Die Presse (AT) /

End of anarchy in sight

It is only a matter of time before the 'Wild Crypto West' becomes regulated, writes Die Presse:

“The bitcoin hype and its market manipulations are mainly fuelled by the fact that it is virtually unregulated. Speculators and criminals thrive in this Wild West. ... No wonder regulations are being worked on everywhere. China has already banned trading in non-state cryptocurrencies, the EU is working on strict regulation and the US will probably also step up its efforts in this regard. ... So although crypto currencies will by no means disappear, they may continue to exist only as state-owned or at least heavily regulated currencies.”