Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has decided to have a go at Bitcoin and its supporters – again. His previous interest to push the developers of the world's largest cryptocurrency to make it more energy-efficient ended in washing out its gains and attracted massive criticism from Bitcoin investors. On Friday, Mr Musk directed his wit to Bitcoin “maxis”, or maximalists, who support the crypto above all other digital currencies, like Dogecoin, a favourite with the Tesla CEO. He again raised the widely held concerns over the energy consumption in trading and mining Bitcoin.
“How many Bitcoin maxis does it take to screw in a lightbulb?” Mr Musk asked. And shortly later, he himself came up with a reply, “That's not funny! – Bitcoin maxis.”
The “Bitcoin maxis” tweet drew the attention of MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, one of the most vocal Bitcoin proponents.
Peter McCormack, the host of one of the most famous cryptocurrency podcasts globally, also responded to Mr Musk, but he was more direct in taking him down. In a second tweet, Mr McCormack posted a link to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele's address to the nation. The central America country has announced that Bitcoin will become a legal tender in the country on September 7 this year.
The SpaceX CEO and the podcast host have a history of disagreement on Bitcoin.
But there were many who supported Mr Musk. One user replied to Mr Musk's question and tweeted a dig, wrapped in a metaphor. The user said two Bitcoin maxis could screw in a lightbulb. “Edgy”, said Mr Musk.
Others just had some fun seeing Mr Musk returning to tweet on Bitcoin.
All eyes are now waiting to see the impact of Mr Musk's tweets on the crypto market, which is trying to recover from the two recent crashes – one in May (partly blamed on the tech tycoon's tweets) and the other last week due to widening Chinese crackdown on cryptocurrencies.
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