Elon Musk supports Bitcoin

Billionaire businessman and the world's richest man, Elon Musk, says even though he was slow on the whole bitcoin rave, he now supports the cryptocurrency.

During a chat on invitation-only app Clubhouse on Monday, February 1, 2021, Musk says bitcoin is “on the verge” of being more widely accepted among investors.

Last Friday, Musk used the “#bitcoin” tag on his Twitter profile, pushing the cryptocurrency up 14%. And bitcoin's value surged as Musk made his Clubhouse remarks before thousands of listeners.

“I am a supporter of bitcoin,” he says. “I was a little slow on the uptake,” he adds, saying he should have bought the cryptocurrency eight years ago.

“I think bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,” he says.

Bitcoin surged over 300% in 2020 (BI) Dado Ruvic/Reuters

Bitcoin last traded up 3.7% at $34,390, having surged over 300% in 2020.

Musk also discussed memes, Mars, his companies, and vaccines, among other topics.

He also interviewed Vladimir Tenev, co-founder of online stock broker app Robinhood, which is under fire for blocking retail investors from purchasing GameStop stock, per Reuters.

GameStop stock surged some 400% in the past week after retail investors banded together to buy shares in the U.S. video game retailer, sending hedge funds scrambling to cover losing bets.

Tenev said the market rumour that Citadel Securities - the market-making arm of billionaire hedge-fund manager Ken Griffin - had pressured Robinhood into blocking retail investors, was untrue.

“That’s just false,” Tenev said, adding that Robinhood temporarily halted trading to meet regulatory capital requirements.