Elon Musk appears to be publicly paying attention to bitcoin again after years of silence.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO broke a three-year quiet streak on bitcoin early Tuesday, commenting on an X post from financial outlet ZeroHedge that tied surging gold, silver, and Bitcoin prices to global monetary “debasement” driven by artificial intelligence spending.
“True,” Musk replied. “That is why Bitcoin is based on energy: you can issue fake fiat currency, and every government in history has done so, but it is impossible to fake energy.”
Musk’s bitcoin mention drew immediate market attention on X, with traders seeing it as a potential sign of renewed interest from Musk, echoing bitcoin’s narrative as “digital energy” or “digital gold.”
After the post, pro-Bitcoin Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) praised Musk on X, saying a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve would secure U.S. debt with a scarce, auditable asset and could help retire a significant portion of it in the future.
In March, President Trump signed an Executive Order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile to centralize government-held crypto.
The Reserve, including the $14 billion in recently seized bitcoin, is to be held as a store of value and not sold.
Elon Musk’s rocky history with Bitcoin
Tesla famously purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in early 2021 and announced plans to accept BTC for vehicle payments.
Back in 2021, Musk said, “I think Bitcoin is a good thing. I am a supporter of Bitcoin. I am late to the party but a supporter. I think Bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people.”
Within months, however, Musk reversed course, citing environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
“Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin,” he said at the time, adding that payments would resume once mining used “more sustainable energy.”
In mid-2022, Tesla sold roughly 75% of its Bitcoin holdings — near the bottom of the market’s decline — while maintaining a remaining stash of about 11,509 BTC, currently worth an estimated $1.29 billion, according to CoinGecko data.
Tesla sold the bulk of their holdings at an average price of roughly $29,000. Bitcoin recently hit all time highs at the $126,000 range.
Since then, Musk has largely avoided public commentary on Bitcoin and even brushed off attempts to discuss it in interviews.