Tesla CEO Elon Musk reassured anyone who follows him on Twitter that his electric car company will not be bailing on its Bitcoin investment anytime soon with the use of two simple emojis.
Musk Tweeted that “Tesla has diamond hands” earlier today. The only difference is that his Tweet didn’t use the words “Diamond” or “Hands.” The CEO opted to use emojis to describe Tesla’s plans instead.
Tesla has 💎 🙌
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2021
Tesla revealed in a 10-K filing with the SEC earlier this year that it had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and had plans to accept it as a form of payment. Tesla eventually did allow prospective car buyers to pay for their all-electric vehicles in March, but a recent change of heart from the company cited environmental concerns as a key reason for Tesla’s decision to suspend Bitcoin payment options. There is no timetable for when Tesla plans to accept Bitcoin again.
Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021
While Musk and Tesla were wary of Bitcoin’s potential environmental implications, the CEO reaffirmed to cryptocurrency supporters that Tesla was not selling any of its Bitcoin earlier this week. Musk then solidified that announcement with the Tweet earlier this morning.
Musk thanked Tesla’s “Master of Coin,” who is company Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn. Kirkhorn assumed the role of “Master of Coin” earlier this year in another filing with the SEC that alerted the agency of his changing job title.
Credit to our Master of Coin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 19, 2021
For those who aren’t familiar, Diamond Hands is a term used in the financial market for someone or something that is prepared to hold a position despite long or short-term volatility. Someone with Diamond Hands is usually someone who, despite setbacks in a stock or crypto’s price, plans to hold their position until an end goal is assumed.
Musk’s reaction is likely related to Bitcoin’s decrease in value over the past several days. Trading as high as $59,356.78 in May, Bitcoin has encountered some setbacks over the past week and has reached prices as low as $30,201.96, according to Coinbase. Currently, BTC is trading at $36,606.64 but is down 13.399% over the past 24 hours.
Some indicate the broad selloff of Bitcoin, which has led to the price plummet, is related to several Chinese finance and banking watchdogs who have expressed negative attitudes toward Bitcoin and other cryptos.
“Prices of cryptocurrency have skyrocketed and plummeted recently, and speculative trading has bounced back. This seriously harms the safety of people’s property and disturbs normal economic and financial orders,” regulators who are supervised by the People’s Bank of China and China Insurance and Banking Commission said, according to CNN.
Tesla’s investment in Bitcoin made the company nearly a billion dollars earlier this year at one point, but the pullback has resulted in some of those gains being taken back. However, Tesla purchased the Bitcoin in December when the value was between $18,000 and $29,111, so there’s still plenty of gains that have been made from the investment.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below, or be sure to email me at joey@teslarati.com or on Twitter @KlenderJoey.