Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has clarified that he is a bitcoin supporter, if a bit "late to the party."
Talking on invitation-only audio-chat app Clubhouse on Monday, Musk said, “I should have bought [bitcoin] eight years ago ... I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing. I am a supporter."
The Tesla CEO further said bitcoin, the top cryptocurrency by market cap, is "on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people." He added that he did not have a “strong opinion on other cryptocurrencies.”
Musk did address popular meme-friendly cryptocurrency dogecoin, saying he occasionally makes jokes about the coin. While dogecoin is "made as a joke," he said, it would be the most "entertaining and ironic outcome," if DOGE became the "currency of [E]arth in the future."
“Fate loves irony,” he said.
In the past, Musk has sometimes teased the crypto community by name-dropping bitcoin and dogecoin, but never clarified if he is a supporter any cryptocurrency.
The new comments come several days after Musk changed his Twitter bio to read "Bitcoin," prompting a 15% rise in the price of the cryptocurrency. The sudden rise also caused the liquidation of $387 million worth of bitcoin short positions.
At press time, bitcoin is up 2.2% over 24 hours at $34,376.