Elon Musk has been a personality in the cryptocurrency space for the last couple of years. While he’s had his positive moments in helping promote crypto, there have been criticisms of his actions. Recently, he’s becoming more outspoken about his issues regarding Bitcoin and Ethereum. To understand why he is doing this, we first have to understand what he is doing.
As many would say about billionaires and large corporate entities, it isn’t about what they say but what they do. Removing favor from Bitcoin and Ethereum promotes many of his other agendas. However, it doesn’t change the fact that he believes in the crypto space as a whole.
What Musk Is Doing Now – The Dogecoin Perspective
Elon has eyed several cryptocurrencies since he began publicly showing interest in them. He’s been promoting Bitcoin, which led to Tesla buying large amounts. At one point, his company even offered people the opportunity to purchase Tesla vehicles using Bitcoin. He’s also been promoting other currencies like Cardano, though keeps it cryptic. Other times, he promotes a random cryptocurrency for a one-and-done mention.
There is one noticeable cryptocurrency that Musk is fully committed to, Dogecoin. The conception of the Bitcoin clone was to create a meme, but it has remained a beloved part of the crypto space. While no one believed in it, many held positions because it was a novelty. However, that all changed when Elon Musk became involved.
Suddenly, he was the promoter and mascot that spearheaded the rise of Dogecoin. At one point, Dogecoin even possessed the third-largest market capitalization and threatened Ethereum. He began going under the moniker, Dogefather and started to post Doge memes on his Twitter. It got a lot of attention, and more people started buying into Dogecoin.
Because of this, he essentially became the de facto head of Dogecoin development. It went from being a meme coin to a coin that could have potential like Bitcoin and Ethereum. He’d already eyed Dogecoin before his promotions and was in touch with the developers. He plans to continue promoting Dogecoin for the foreseeable future. There is even a plan to name one of his rockets after it.
Why Doesn’t He Like Bitcoin and Ethereum?
He doesn’t hate Bitcoin and Ethereum as the media like to present. He’s been doing many things behind the scenes to promote the crypto space as a whole.
For example, Bitcoin has seen a bit of decline in popularity. It is due to increasing concern about its electricity usage. Since then, he has been adamant about renewable energy usage for Bitcoin.
He’s gotten in touch with many other names and even crypto mining companies as a part of the effort. He understands that Bitcoin is one of the foundations that is keeping everything afloat. However, two main things prevent Elon from getting on board with Ethereum and Bitcoin.
A Question of Branding
Bitcoin and Ethereum are both well-known cryptocurrencies that have big names supporting them. They are the top two cryptocurrencies and the least likely to fail out of all of them. The issue with supporting Ethereum and Bitcoin is that Elon would just become one of the names supporting them. He doesn’t want to be a part of a crowd. He desires to spearhead crypto that matches his brand.
Throughout history, Musk’s projects have always been about making the impossible possible. He did it with Tesla and with SpaceX. He was one of the believers in Paypal before it was even a thing. Throughout history, Dogecoin has always been the joke of crypto.
By backing Dogecoin, he wants to prove that he can also make a joke into something possible. It’s funny to think that there could be a future where people are purchasing items using a meme. Dogecoin fits his brand better, which is why he decided to focus on it.
A Question of Control
Another issue surrounding Bitcoin is its development. Since the departure of Satoshi Nakamoto, leadership in Bitcoin has been divisive. It is the reason we see so many Bitcoin clones and forks around. This divisiveness is also why the top market cap crypto is one of the slowest in development.
Ethereum also has an issue that Musk finds problematic. Ethereum has a strong development team that operates under their CEO Vitalik Buterin. It means that even if Elon Musk gets involved with Eth, he will never have the same amount of influence. He wants a project where he could essentially become the leader or at least an influential personality.
Dogecoin never had a goal to be a developed cryptocurrency asset. The developers remain, but they never really did anything with the project until now. Today, with Elon putting more attention on it, there is a possibility to improve the faults in Dogecoin’s structure. His goal is to make the coin better than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Musk Has Positions But Is Not Promoting Them
With everything said about his dislike for Bitcoin and Ethereum, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have investments in them. Musk has been vocal about his support for both. The only exceptions occur when he is promoting Dogecoin.
Tesla has Bitcoin in their balance sheet, and he has also alluded to owning Bitcoin as a part of his investments. Musk promoting other cryptocurrencies also signifies that he has positions all around.
However, promoting them more than he would Dogecoin would be detrimental to his goals. For Bitcoin, he wants to keep the sustainability conversation alive to help Dogecoin. Anything good for Bitcoin has a rippling effect of positivity for everything else.
Time Will Tell
Elon Musk has had many significant accomplishments during his life, but he’s also had his share of failures. Many have forgotten and some happened when he didn’t have as much popularity. Either way, Dogecoin sits in a position that’s all dependent upon his support. If he continues to promote and develop Dogecoin, it could have a bright future.
However, the moment he decides to drop it to favor another could destroy all momentum it has. With Dogecoin yet to break back into its last highs, only time will tell if it becomes another one of Musk’s successes.
