Speaking at an online conference called 'The B Word,' Elon Musk said that his aerospace tech company SpaceX has invested in BitcoinBitcoin.
"I do own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin," he said, revealing that he also personally owns Ethereum and Dogecoin.
According to the official website of 'The B Word,' the conference “aims to explain how institutions can embrace Bitcoin and how we all can support the network.”
It’s organized by the Crypto Council for Innovation—a group of financial services companies with investments in the space.
Musk spoke during the day’s second panel, titled “Bitcoin as a Tool for Economic Empowerment,” alongside two of today’s most fervently pro-Bitcoin executives: Cathie Wood, the CEO of ARK Invest, and Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square.
The whole affair may strike you as somewhat propagandistic: the stated goals of the conference’s first panel include “correct[ing] mainstream narratives about Bitcoin” and “debunk[ing] the most common Bitcoin myths.”
Square, a member of the Crypto Council for Innovation, released a paper earlier this year suggesting that Bitcoin mining—a notoriously energy-intensive process that’s still heavily reliant on fossil fuels in many parts of the world—actually incentivizes renewable energy. It’s a conclusion that’s been roundly rejected by analysts and climate researchers.
Musk, though still the most influential crypto influencer, hasn’t been quite as gung-ho. Tesla said it would start accepting Bitcoin as payment in February but reversed the decision just a few months later, citing concerns about the cryptocurrency’s environmental impact.
Dismissing crypto critiques as “FUD” (short for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”) is a time-honored tradition among the technology’s most ardent supporters.
For every naysayer, there’s a laser-eyed maximalist; lucky for investors, conferences like ‘The B Word’ are probably here to stay, too.
