Musk establishes Bitcoin Mining Council with leading North American miners
What's the story
Elon Musk held a meeting with "leading Bitcoin miners in North America" recently. The discussion aimed "to promote energy usage transparency [and] accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide." The miners plan to form a Bitcoin Mining Council presumably to ensure adherence to renewable energy usage. Musk confirmed this in a tweet where he revealed the Council will push miners worldwide to do so.
Questionable intentions
Meanwhile, crypto enthusiasts accuse Musk of market manipulation
This comes after Musk's newfound concern for the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining, which was strangely preceded by Tesla pumping $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Musk's otherwise keen foresight was lacking when Tesla began accepting Bitcoin payments. The billionaire then backtracked, which caused crypto prices to plummet. It didn't take long for Musk to get accused of market manipulation following the Bitcoin betrayal.
Bitcoin evangelists
Tesla, MicroStrategy had joined forces to hype up Bitcoin
Also present in the meeting was MicroStrategy CEO, Michael Saylor. The business intelligence firm has been evangelizing corporate Bitcoin investments alongside Musk. The company CFO, Phong Le, exhorted fellow corporate treasurers on May 24 to invest in Bitcoin, whiling painting it as their fiduciary responsibility. Both companies had been pushing up the Bitcoin price by making substantial corporate investments in the cryptocurrency.
United front
Several high-profile mining groups confirm their membership to the Council
Saylor included representatives from Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Argo Blockchain, Blockcap, Argo Blockchain, Core Scientific, Galaxy Digital, Hut 8 Mining, and Hive Blockchain Technologies among the members of the Bitcoin Mining Council. Galaxy confirmed their participation with Bloomberg, while some of the other mining firms such as Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall and Hut 8 tweeted their support.
High stakes
Musk's involvement in the Council isn't without precedent
While the Tesla CEO remains tight-lipped about his personal crypto investments during the recent period of volatility, Tesla itself faces significant losses from Bitcoin's near-50% crash from its all-time high in April. However, Tesla is unlikely to book losses by selling Bitcoin, since the investment is quite obviously a diversification strategy designed to hedge against the impending deflation of the US dollar.
Mere coincidence?
Musk's mining council comes after Chinese miners call it quits
Meanwhile, the formation of the mostly Western Bitcoin Mining Council coincides with China comprehensively cracking down on cryptocurrencies. Virtually all major organized Bitcoin miners have pulled out of the country, with most freezing ongoing operations and suspending hardware purchases. Since Chinese miners account for a whopping 75% of the world's Bitcoin hash rate, it's a good time to be a member of Musk's Council.