© Reuters. Elon Musk and Bitcoin Thematic Statement Issued by Samson Mow: Details
U.Today – Bitcoin-focused company Jan3 founder and CEO Samson Mow posted a cat meme, mentioning Elon Musk and maximalist Preston Pysh and mocking the Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂) CEO for his criticism of the Bitcoin consensus algorithm.
Elon Musk, rocket science and PoW
Samson Mow accompanied his meme with a comment that read: “Proof of work is not rocket science. But it might as well be!
This refers to statements by Elon Musk made before acquiring Twitter for $44 billion in October 2022. While he stated that he wanted to acquire Twitter to preserve the “town square for free speech,” legacy media began to harshly criticize him with articles whose titles were worded something like “Elon Musk is discovering that freedom of expression is not rocket science” (an article in The New York Times).
However, Mow's tweet references not only that but also criticism of the proof-of-work consensus algorithm that runs Bitcoin. In early 2021, Musk surprised the cryptocurrency community and the financial world by announcing that Tesla purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and began accepting Bitcoin payments for its electric cars. It happened in February. However, in April, Musk closed that payment option, expressing concerns that Bitcoin mining based on the proof-of-work algorithm is harmful to the environment.
Back then, many Bitcoiners pointed out that the original meme cryptocurrency, so supported by Musk, is also based on the proof-of-work algorithm, but Musk never responded to them.
SpaceX still has Bitcoin
He stated that Tesla will again accept Bitcoin once BTC miners around the world start basing at least 50% of their operations on renewable energy. This level of green technology use was reached the same year. However, Tesla has not yet reinstated Bitcoin as a payment option.
Still, earlier this week, Musk shared on a podcast that SpaceX continues to hold Bitcoin and he still has his DOGE. Nothing was mentioned about Tesla, but as previously reported, the giant electric car producer has been gradually selling off its Bitcoin reserve, but is believed to still have some BTC.
This week, Bitcoin took a big step forward when the SEC regulator finally approved 11 opening Bitcoin spot ETF filings filed by several Wall Street giants last year.
This article was originally published on U.Today.
