It is the second time this week that Mr Musk has publicly come to the defence of cryptocurrencies, after tweeting out that Tesla would hold on to its Bitcoin as the market crashed.
He had come under criticism from social media users , some of whom suggested he had sold his Bitcoin holdings at the top of the market.
He responded by tweeting out that the electric car company had “Diamond hands”, in reference to traders who hold onto stocks as their price drop with the goal of longterm profit.
The slide in crypto values started after Mr Musk tweeted that Tesla was suspending taking Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles because of concerns of the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.
Published Friday, May 21, 2021 8:51AM EDT LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) Around 4.5% of all bitcoin mining takes place in Iran, allowing the country to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies that can be used to buy imports and lessen the impact of sanctions, a new study has found. At its current level of mining, Iran s bitcoin production would amount to revenues close $1 billion a year, according to figures from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic. Iranian officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The United States imposes an almost total economic embargo on Iran, including a ban on all imports including those from the country s oil, banking and shipping sectors.
Iran uses crypto mining to lessen impact of sanctions, study finds | Money malaymail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from malaymail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
1. What’s behind the crypto market crash?
The crypto market crashed, dipping to a market cap of US$1.3 trillion at one point.
Image: Envato Elements
By the numbers: Bitcoin over 5,000% increase in Google search volume.
Bitcoin has fallen to below US$40,000 for the first time since Feb. 8 when Tesla announced a US$1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase. But Bitcoin isn’t alone the entire crypto market has been sinking, shedding a trillion dollars in total market cap in just a week.
A series of events contributed to crypto’s downward spiral. One of the triggers appears to be Elon Musk announcing that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles.