By
Steve Muchoki
April 24th, 2024
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao does not believe that Musk or Tesla selling Bitcoin does much for the current market.
Elon Musk purchasing or selling Bitcoin (BTC) does not mean much, according to outspoken Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao. In fact, Zhao does not think that anyone selling or buying the popular crypto at the moment can fundamentally impact it. Furthermore, as a show of his faith in BTC, the Binance CEO revealed that he still retains his BTC stake from when he first entered the industry.
Binance CEO Opines Musk Sold Bitcoin to Fund Twitter Deal
Zhao’s Musk comments come after the Tesla CEO announced that his electric vehicle company offloaded 75% of its BTC holdings in Q2. According to Musk, Tesla sold a sizable stake because it needed funds for newly-opened plants in the US and Germany. In addition, the leading EV company also desired a more robust cash flow to prop up its businesses in China. The Chinese factory was one of several businesses heavily impacted by the government-imposed extended lockdown from Covid in the second quarter.
However, Zhao also put forth another plausible reason why Tesla sold. The Binance CEO suggested that Musk decided to liquidate the majority of his company’s Bitcoin stake to buy Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) in Q2. Zhao himself committed $500 million of his own money to support the Tesla CEO’s acquisition plans if it goes through. At the time, the Binance CEO explained the rationale behind his backing of Musk and the prospective Twitter deal, saying that “he’s leading, we’re following, if he goes through with the deal, we’re committed. If he does not, then I think we’re off.”
However, following Musk’s recent decision to walk away from the Twitter deal, Zhao reinforced his support for Musk. He specified that he “…will support whatever Elon decides”. Zhao also added that there is a time to lead and a time to follow. Elon Musk decided to back away from the Twitter deal because of the issue regarding bot accounts on the platform.
Crypto Market Slump & its Growing Effect on Participants
Zhao also weighed in on the effect that the general crypto market slump was having on a growing number of corporate players. The Binance CEO referenced collapsed lending firms like Celsius and Voyager, and said Binance has “very minimal exposure” to them. In addition, he stated that Binance acted as neither their creditor nor debtor. When quizzed on whether Binance’s minimal exposure to these ill-fated firms was an informed and deliberate decision taken before, Zhao said:
“I think because we are dumb. We like to do things in a simple way… We are an exchange and that’s why we are not in the loan business.”
However, regardless of prevailing circumstances, the Binance CEO also doubled down on his devotion to crypto. Suggesting that 100% of his disposable income is in crypto, Zhao said:
“For me, I don’t have dollars. Everything I have is in cryptos. So when I need to spend money, I need to spend some parts of it somewhere. For me, I’m all in cryptos. I don’t have to think about selling crypto. Crypto is my money.”
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