Meanwhile, Tesla (TSLA) the largest electric car manufacturer in the world had bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC). The company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday — making the company one of the largest investors in the cryptocurrency. Tesla said it bought BTC for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash”. The company added in a statement that it might accept BTC as payment in the future.
Nevertheless, the sale generated angry reactions from economists. Nouriel Roubini aka “Dr.Doom” an economist famous for pessimistic market views said that Elon Musk’s tweets about Bitcoin prior to announcing Tesla’s deal is a “market manipulation”. Roubini asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate.
Commenting on @Tesla's $1.5 billion bitcoin buy on #CDTV First Mover this morning, @Nouriel said it's "criminal behavior" for Elon Musk to take an individual stance on bitcoin to pump up the price before announcing Tesla's investment.
"Talk about a criminal enterprise." pic.twitter.com/aSHPX5ayHM
— CoinDesk (@CoinDesk) February 10, 2021
In an interview with CoinDesk on Wednesday, Roubini said, “First take an individual position in bitcoin, pump the price up, and then say that Tesla has invested. It’s also irresponsible and it’s market manipulation. The SEC should be looking into people that have a market impact that manipulate the price of assets. That’s also criminal behavior.”
