Elon Musk Stirs Up Crypto Community Again As He Talks Down Bitcoin And Hypes Up Dogecoin In Interview

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has stirred up the cryptocurrency community after commenting on the transaction capabilities of Bitcoin BTC/USD and Dogecoin DOGE/USD in a podcast interview with Lex Fridman.

What Happened: Musk touched on the two cryptocurrencies in his conversation with Fridman on Tuesday.

“Part of the reason why I think there’s some merit to Dogecoin even though it was obviously created as a joke is that it actually does have a much higher transaction volume capability than Bitcoin,” said Musk.

The entrepreneur’s comments attracted sharp responses on Twitter from adherents of the apex coin.

Bitcoin podcaster Peter McLasso said tweeted that Musk was “talking [sh*t] about Bitcoin” in the interview.

Yep, @elonmusk talking shit about #bitcoin with Lex Blockman.pic.twitter.com/3NcY6876RQ

— Peter McLasso � (@PeterMcCormack) December 29, 2021

Editor of Bitcoin Magazine Netherlands Arnold Hubach noted that Musk is aware of layer two solutions like Lightning, which he ignored to make a point about Bitcoin being slow and expensive.

A clip from today’s podcast from @lexfridman with @elonmusk

One minute before this, he mentions “layer two solutions like Lightning”. So he obviously knows about it.

But yet, he ignores this solution while trying to make a point (for #bitcoin being slow and expensive). Why? pic.twitter.com/dIM4Cp1And

— Arnold Hu₿ach  (@st4rnold) December 28, 2021

While referring to Bitcoin, Musk said it has a “fundamental issue” in that its transaction volume is very limited and the latency for confirmed transactions is long.

“[Bitcoin] is not great from a transaction volume standpoint or a latency standpoint,” said Musk.

“It’s not useful as a day-to-day currency but people have proposed different technological solutions [like] lightning network and layer two technologies on top of it.”

See Also: How To Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

Why It Matters: Bitcoiners, including Hubach, made the point that in El Salvador transactions in the apex crypto can be made for a pittance using the lightning network.

Because it is not. I did over 100 #bitcoin Lightning transactions in El Salvador  this year, for example.

Fees? Not more than 10 sats ($0.005) on average.
Time? Not more than 10 seconds. #Dogecoin? Not needed. pic.twitter.com/A4msKEW5DR

— Arnold Hu₿ach  (@st4rnold) December 28, 2021

Why does'nt Tesla use Lightening like El Salvador?

— SuperCycleBull (@razorfang) December 29, 2021

Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin in May this year, citing the negative environmental impact of mining due to the use of fossil fuels. 

Dogecoin bull Musk has called for a reduction of transaction fees on the meme coin’s network so that it can be used for everyday transactions in the past. 

This month, Musk said Tesla will try out DOGE payments for some merchandise, which led to a spike in the price of the cryptocurrency, which has its origins in a joke.

Price Action: At press time, over 24 hours, BTC traded 3.2% lower at $48,028.64, while DOGE traded 2.9% lower at $0.175.
Read Next: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin Plunge As Market Approaches Options Expiry — A Fall Below This Key Level Could Spell Trouble

Photo: Courtesy of Steve Jurvetson via Flickr