When Elon talks Bitcoin, the market listens. It was no different early in European business hours as the Tesla CEO announced that the company would accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for one of its cars.
While that would be enough for the markets to take a tick upwards - see the Elon effect - the chief executive also announced that the company will keep the money it receives in crypto as crypto. Then things went nuts. Global market cap had been hovering around $1.6-trillion and suddenly shot up into the $1.7 trillion range.
Within minutes of the announcement, Bitcoin’s price headed north. It had been trading sideways at around $54,000 overnight, but began climbing aggressively and now sits comfortably in the $56,000 and looks like it will continue into the $57,000s.
The news rippled across the broader markets, lifting Ethereum by 1.3% and Binance by 1.24%. In fact, almost all major cryptocurrencies benefitted from the Elon Musk effect, by the looks of the price charts.
The Elon Musk effect. IMAGE: Nomics
The only projects that didn’t feel Musk’s warm embrace was Ripple, as its price cools from earlier gains in the week and Uniswap, and its Eth-powered markets.
Theta Token meanwhile, continues its blistering hot streak, as it adds another 26% to its price. The streaming service has been riding a wave of popularity since Sony announced it was going to be a node on the network and is now being pulled along by the promise of a staking token sometime later this year.
Outside of the money markets, crypto has been making serious money moves. This morning, blockchain.com, a London-based firm that provides a variety of cryptocurrency services to retail and institutional clients raised $300 million to give the company a $5.2 billion valuation. That makes it the third-largest raise in crypto's relatively short history, with only Bitmain ($400 million) and BlockFi ($350 million) raising more.
Stateside meanwhile, crypto exchange FTX announced it had signed a 19-year deal to become the sponsor of the Miami Heat arena, the first crypto sponsorship of a major professional sports venue in the US.
Crypto exchange @FTX_Official has become the official sponsor of the Miami Heat arena in a $135M naming-rights deal, making them the first crypto exchange to sponsor a major professional sports venue in the US pic.twitter.com/bnT0tr132v
“The research found that for many investors, emotions and feelings such as enjoying the thrill of investing, and social factors like the status that comes from a sense of ownership in the companies they invest in, were key reasons behind their decisions to invest,” the FCA said in a post on its findings.
