Why is Tesla buying so much bitcoin?

Make Me Smart

English - February 11, 2021 02:16 - 17 minutes - 11.8 MB - ★★★★★ - 4.6K ratings
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Previous Episode: Let’s do the numbers on a $15 minimum wage

Next Episode: One thing is still bugging us about GameStop

Well, Elon Musk has been tweeting again. Specifically, he’s been tweeting about how much he loves bitcoin, right after his automaker Tesla bought up $1.5 billion worth of it. Is this a distraction from the company’s China troubles? A scheme running afoul of the SEC? An epic bacon win for all the lulz, good sir? Maybe all three? We try and get into Musk’s head on today’s show. Wish us luck. Plus, your questions about minimum wage, interest rates and mRNA.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

“Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, plans to accept it as payment” from CNBC

“Why did Tesla buy bitcoin?” from MarketWatch

“‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry calls Tesla’s $1.5 billion bet on Bitcoin a distraction – and says Dogecoin’s record price signals a massive bubble” from Business Insider

“Low U.S. Rates Exacerbate Racial Wealth Gap, Paper Shows” from Bloomberg

“The next act for messenger RNA could be bigger than covid vaccines” from MIT Technology Review

And you might want to catch up with our recent episodes on mRNA and the minimum wage