Elon Musk’s ability to move cryptocurrency markets with his tweets represents a danger to the average investor, said CoinSwap founder Erik Nurm, but the furor created around the Tesla CEO’s social media activity could draw more eyes to crypto in the long run.
Nurm pointed out that Musk’s tendency to tweet about Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (DOGE) and other cryptocurrencies began shortly after the Tesla chief was banned from tweeting about his own company by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
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“Elon has been manipulating the market by creating FUD around Bitcoin. He is playing the same game he did with the stock market,” said Nurm.
“After he was banned by the SEC from tweeting about Tesla, he has shifted focus to the crypto market, where he can run free on social media for now,” he added.
The CoinSwap founder sees turmoil in the markets at present largely thanks to the ever-changing temperament of Musk, which appears to run hot and cold. Earlier in the year, Musk announced Tesla would accept Bitcoin as a payment option for its electric cars, only to reverse his decision weeks later.
More recently, Musk reversed his decision once again, announcing that Tesla would accept Bitcoin as a payment option once 50% of its mining was carried out with clean energy usage.
Related: Elon Musk lays out when Tesla will begin accepting Bitcoin payments
But Musk’s erratic nature when interacting with the crypto world could ultimately attract more people to it in the long run, even if for the wrong reasons, said Nurm.
“Even though Musk is temporarily causing turmoil in the market, his involvement could be beneficial for crypto in the long-term, as he is attracting new people to crypto, albeit for sometimes the wrong reasons,” he said.
Nurm referenced Musk’s newest cryptocurrency plaything: CumRocket (CUMMIES), a token supposedly created for use in the adult film industry, which quadrupled in price in the space of 10 minutes when Musk began tweeting about it.
“His efforts to drive up the price of certain coins, like Dogecoin and more recently CumRocket, are potentially more dangerous as these apparent pump-and-dump schemes could leave many ordinary people out of pocket.”
Related: Primal arrogance and greed: Elon Musk slammed for crypto manipulation
A pinch of sodium chloride is needed when interpreting Musk’s tweets, said Nurm, who added that the billionaire CEO may have ulterior motives when he gives the thumbs up or thumbs down on a given coin.
“I hope people take all of Musk’s crypto tweets and other comments with a pinch of salt — and they must remember he has ulterior motives,” Nurm ended.
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