Gary Black, a prominent Tesla supporter and managing partner of Future Fund, has publicly opposed the idea of Tesla Inc (TSLA) buying back bitcoin TSLA opposes the BTC/USD bitcoin buyout. They are. Mr. Black spoke out against it on social media platform X on Monday.
What happened: his remarks were in response to an X user who suggested #Tesla should consider buying back bitcoins it had previously sold; Tayar's suggestion was in response to Black's musings about the mistakes investors typically make when comparing stock price P/E ratios to short-term EPS growth rates posted in a thread on the X user's site.
In the ensuing discussion, Mr. Black stated that #bitcoin trading is not a prudent allocation of capital because it is not within Tesla's #core competency.
And not maximizing capital is not TSLA's core competency.
Why it matters: the dispute stems from the history of Tesla and bitcoin: in February 2021, Tesla announced a $1.5 billion purchase of bitcoin and subsequently sold some of its assets to capitalize on the digital currency's appreciation.
However, this is not the first time Black has been skeptical of bitcoin: in January 2024, he warned that bitcoin could fall by 70%. He attributed this prediction to an expected lack of institutional interest and warnings from prominent investors that bitcoin has no intrinsic value.
Despite his stance on bitcoin, Mr. Black is optimistic about Tesla's future, especially with regard to cyber trucks. He believes that cyber trucks will be an important revenue catalyst for Tesla in 2025.
Tesla is the fourth largest bitcoin holder among listed companies. At the time of writing, the Elon Musk-led company holds a total of 10,500 units (valued at $740.28 million). The largest holder among these companies is #MicroStrategy Inc (MicroStrategy). MSTR owns a pile of bitcoins worth more than $12 billion.
Price Dynamics: according to Benzinga Pro, bitcoin was trading 5.15% higher at $70,480.40 at the time of writing.
Is bitcoin breaking through the new ATH?
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