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Bitcoin (BTC) Hits New All-Time High as Tesla Drops in a Cool $1.5 Billion

Tesla, the world’s favorite electric car manufacturer, has announced a $1.5 billion injection into Bitcoin, sending the king of cryptocurrencies to new highs.

Within minutes of the announcement, Bitcoin catapulted past its previous high of $42,000, very nearly cracking the $44,000 barrier before a mild correction. It currently sits just about $43,000 but we expect to see some more volatility and further growth as the news spreads.

The official announcement follows several hints dropped by Telsa CEO and world’s richest man, Elon Musk, about his faith in Bitcoin. Two weeks ago, Musk changed his Twitter profile to the hashtag #Bitcoin, followed by a cryptic message simply stating “In retrospect, it was inevitable”. That announcement alone gave Bitcoin a massive 20 percent boost in value, although the gains dissipated quickly.

Musk’s Crazy Crypto Journey

Musk’s support for Bitcoin came at a time when financial markets around the world were faced with mounting instability following the WallStreetBets and GameStop saga that nearly bankrupted massive US hedge fund Melvin Capital. The fallout forced popular trading app Robinhood to halt trading, leading to widespread controversy and driving many traditional investors to consider cryptocurrency.

Musk has also been promoting the least likely of digital assets, the joke meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE). He did so in a series of bizarre tweets involving photoshopped Lion King imagery that led many to wonder if Musk’s Twitter account had in fact been hacked. However, it seems the tweets were genuine, helping to send Dogecoin to new highs and secure it a place in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap. At the time of writing, Dogecoin is up 104 percent in the past 7 days with a market growth of $6 billion.

Buy a Tesla with BTC

Along with the $1.5 billion investment, Tesla has also announced that it plans to start accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment. In its annual financial report, presented to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company outlines its plan to begin accepting cryptocurrency payments.

“Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt,” the report reads.

The news is undoubtedly one of the biggest boosts for cryptocurrency since Bitcoin was birthed over a decade ago. With the backing of one of the world’s most successful and forward-thinking tech companies, many more businesses around the world are likely to begin accepting payments in crypto.  

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Australian Ranch Awarded Blockchain-based Soil Carbon Credits from Microsoft

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Major tech giant Microsoft recently announced ambitious plans to cut down on its carbon footprint and implement 100 percent renewable energy at its data centers by 2025.  Furthermore, the company plans to incentivize its suppliers to reduce their carbon footprint by rewarding certain sustainability projects like reforestation, soil sequestration, and bioenergy with carbon capture storage (BECC).

Soil sequestration is the process of increasing the amount of carbon dioxide stored in soil, thereby reducing the amount present within the atmosphere. To do so, cattle ranchers implement special grazing practices with the hope of achieving between a 4 and 6 percent concentration of soil organic carbon in their land.

The environmental regeneration project, Regen Network, built on the Cosmos (ATOM) blockchain, was designed to reward farmers that increase the carbon concentration in their soil. It does so by verifying a farm’s soil sequestration and issuing it tokens, known as CarbonPlus Grasslands credits, funded by corporations that wish to reduce their carbon footprint. Microsoft has partnered with the Regen Network to purchase 43,338 metric tons worth of carbon credits for the Wilmot Cattle Co, an Australian-based ranch owner. The initiative was originally launched by natural capital firm Impact AG and has now been bought by Microsoft.

In addition to reducing its carbon footprint and supporting companies that do the same, Microsoft also hopes to eliminate an equal amount of carbon that it’s been responsible for producing since the company began in 1975. The corporation has set a date of 2050 to achieve this goal, using a combination of negative emission technologies (NET) like BECCs, direct air capture (DAC), and other methods.

Tech Giants Call for Climate Change Action

Microsoft is not the only tech giant calling for more aggressive climate change action.

Elon Musk, CEO of fellow tech giant Tesla, famously announced a $100 million prize to whoever could provide the best carbon capture technology. The often controversial businessman has been a long time supporter of climate change action, environmental causes, and blockchain technology. 

Last week, Musk finally made clear his support for Bitcoin when he changed his Twitter profile to the hashtag #Bitcoin. He followed up the change with the tweet “In retrospect, it was inevitable,” appearing to confirm the widespread belief that he would one day buy Bitcoin. Immediately following the news the digital asset enjoyed a brief 20 percent rise in price, touching the $38,000 level. However, it quickly corrected back down to current levels, indicating strong bearish sentiment within crypto markets.

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Elon Musk Pumps Bitcoin, Tweet Recorded in Bitcoin Blockchain For Eternity

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen some impressive gains this year, rising by a massive 25 percent in just the first week of January alone. However, nothing quite compares to the massive pump seemingly instigated by Elon Musk this morning when he changed his Twitter profile to the simple hashtag #Bitcoin, sending a strong endorsement of the world’s leading cryptocurrency to his 43.7 million followers. 

The effect of the update by the world’s richest man saw Bitcoin rocket from $32,000 to near $38,000 in a matter of minutes. That’s an almost 20 percent price rise in less than an hour, driven by an incredible $20 billion increase in trading volume. While the price corrected soon after to below $36,000, Bitcoin’s trading volume continues to grow, reaching around $88 billion as more traders across the US begin waking up.

“It was inevitable.”

After changing his Twitter status to Bitcoin, Musk tweeting the phrase “In retrospect, it was inevitable.” The tweet is widely understood to signal that Elon has now bought some Bitcoin, although it may also signal his feelings about the recent GameStop (GME) and Robinhood debacle that exposed the true level of fraud on Wall Street.

Musk has been following the GameStop events as they unfolded this week, Tweeting on Tuesday this week “Gamestonk!”, with a link to the r/WallStreetBets Reddit channel that’s been driving these massive stock market short squeezes.

Documenting Bitcoin, a Twitter account dedicated to keeping a record of Bitcoin events, noted that somebody had embedded Musk’s tweet into the Bitcoin blockchain for eternity. According to this tweet, the entry was inserted by Coin Corner tech lead @zakkdev.

Bitcoin longs and shorts liquidated

As a result of Musk’s tweet, nearly $420 million worth of Bitcoin shorts were liquidated in less than an hour, followed by $120 million in longs liquidated soon after as the price rapidly corrected. On Binance alone, $57 million worth of shorts were liquidated in just the first 10 minutes of Musk’s endorsement.

Not only did Musk’s tweet help pump Bitcoin but potentially saved it from an extended bear market due to options expiring. Billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin futures options expired today, an event which could have otherwise pushed Bitcoin below $30,000 and into an even deeper rut.

Overbought Territory

While the move is undoubtedly good for the crypto market, it does mean Bitcoin has moved into overbought territory, signaling the potential for a trend reversal to the downside. However, as is common in the cryptocurrency market, the current revolutionary sentiment could continue to drive the price to the moon.