In this YouTube market update, host Speaker A is joined by analysts Eddie Donmez and Tim Duggan to dissect the recent news that Tesla has announced it will accept Bitcoin payments and has purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, as revealed in an SEC filing. The panel explains how this move signals a shift toward institutional acceptance of Bitcoin, citing ARK Investments' analysis that even a modest allocation of corporate treasuries to Bitcoin could drive the price to $40,000 or higher. They contrast the current rally with the 2018 Bitcoin surge, noting that Bitcoin has now undergone a consolidation period and gained credibility among institutional investors. The discussion also examines Elon Musk’s outsized influence on crypto markets, including his impact on Dogecoin and concerns about a single individual wielding market‑moving power. Regulatory considerations are raised, highlighting the appointment of a new SEC chairman with a background in cryptocurrency research, suggesting potential shifts in oversight. Tim briefly references Dogecoin’s recent price action, while the hosts caution about possible overreach by influential figures and the broader implications of corporate treasuries holding crypto assets.
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So we're talking about this move we've just seen in Bitcoin and Tesla shares. I've got the move in Bitcoin right here on the 15-minute chart, powering back above that $40,000 level here. And the main news is that Tesla have announced that they're going to be accepting Bitcoin payments. So joining me here, I've got Eddie Donmez and Tim Duggan to discuss the move both in Bitcoin and Tesla shares. Eddie, I'm going to start with you. You're probably the most informed here. Tell me what's happened and give us a bit of background to this move in both Bitcoin and Tesla shares.
Yeah, hugely exciting for the cryptocurrency space. More about institutional acceptance, really. So Tesla now announced that they're going to be accepting Bitcoin as payments. They've also bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, according to an SEC filing. And why this is significant for Bitcoin, of course, and for Tesla, but more so for the Bitcoin space, is this is now setting the scene for institutional acceptance, both from an asset management kind of perspective. ARK Investments have actually released a piece saying if every company in the S&P 500 allocated 1% of their kind of treasuries to Bitcoin, it would hit $40,000. And if they did 10%, it would hit $400,000. So what this is basically being seen as, Bitcoin is essentially a cash or a cash equivalent basically. So traditionally, lots of corporate treasuries would have held treasuries, okay, uh, super, you know, low risk, you know, relatively low return. And what this basically gives a green light for is more institutional, uh, and corporations holding their cash in Bitcoin, okay. So this is huge.
Let me come in on that, let me come in on that, because that's interesting. Because do you remember, Tim, back in November we did a video about how this time it's different when Bitcoin passed $20,000 towards the end of the year. We did a Quick Clip, this time it's different. Why is it different to 2018? Eddie, it was exactly that thing. It was the feeling that there's way more institutional involvement here with old dogs like me now being interested in crypto and Bitcoin. Back in 2017, back in 2016, I have to admit, hands up, I didn't think it was credible yet. I didn't think it had been tested enough yet. But towards the end of last year, on that break of $20,000, the reason why this time it's different is Bitcoin had been through that consolidation period, it had been tested, and the voices talking about the cryptocurrency were much more institutional. One issue I have with this all, though, is obviously going back a year ago, Elon Musk changed his profile to have a Bitcoin logo on social media. He's been pushing this and pushing this. Also turns out he's got a chunky position in Bitcoin as well. Should he be allowed to do this? Is this, is this acceptable? Has this one man got too much power now?
Yeah, I think, I think he definitely has a huge influence. All you need to do is look at Dogecoin, that, uh, literally joke of a, of a cryptocurrency, uh, and the effect that he has. Um, but just to kind of set the precedent, Michael Saylor of MicroStrategy It's another company, kind of a consultancy company. He's been around for a long time, and he's kind of set the precedent for converting treasury holdings into this Bitcoin. So it has been done before, but for Tesla to do it is really big, big news because you know the cult following that is almost mirrored with Tesla and Bitcoin, right? But in terms of the—
I have a Doge chart here actually, um, that I could share. Obviously this is up, I mean, what is it, 640%? This is Yeah, so this is Doge, um, the prior high there. I mean, God, these are very small increments. We're looking at the daily bars here, um, as you can see, we're just testing that all-time high here at about— what was it actually? Sorry, this is not Doge. This is Doge here. This is Bitcoin we're looking at, and just getting the Dogecoin up. As you can see, that's more like 0.08 was the prior all-time high tested yesterday. On these markets. And I think this is probably going to see a bit of a pullback, but then the general lift.
I know a lot of people are going to be talking about Doge. Doge is everywhere, of course, because this is phenomenal. But I'm on Eddie's line. I actually think this story is way bigger than just Dogecoin. This is global impact when we talk about the fact that Treasury departments can start to hold some of the valuation in crypto. The one question I've got for you guys before we wrap up this short update is Now, I've been following Elon on Twitter for a while. The impact that he's had just over the last sort of 2 or 3 weeks, it's kind of like he's got the power bug. I'm— what I've seen in the past time and time again, and we've seen this actually going back a long time in the past, is power is addictive and it creates a drug. And I— maybe there's a long way to go on this, but we saw what happened with Trump and his Twitter, but is there a danger that Elon's actually beginning to push it too far? And I think there's cases here that, look, he's been promoting Bitcoin for a year, and then to make this announcement— I mean, he always knew he would make this announcement. There's definitely something odd here, the fact that one person can have such an influence over asset prices and benefit from that influence. I don't know whether I'm pushing too far down that line, but I'm just beginning to get a whiff of this getting a little bit out of control.
I think he's actually in a little loophole there where I think he is beyond SEC reach, right, on this because the crypto space is pretty much unregulated. So I think he's in a loophole at the moment.
Yeah, I don't know. Experience has taught me if someone irritates the industry that much, like you saw perhaps with the GameStop, there'll be some kind of Just one interesting thing on this is the new—
there's a new SEC chairman actually, and he is very understanding of cryptocurrency. He actually spent time at MIT, so he has a good understanding of, of the space. There's also been someone underneath him, the head of cryptocurrency research, has actually been promoted to directly report to him. This Bitcoin was not, um, you really accepted from the previous SEC chairman, but this new one does have an understanding from his time at MIT. So yeah, interesting things to come. Absolutely.
Well, listen, guys, thank you so much for this wrap. Just to finish on, uh, on this chart of Bitcoin then, and I mean, Tesla shares are up now, what, uh, nearly 2%, um, 1.5%. I don't have those up looking at Bitcoin now, but you know, you can see this move on, on a longer term time frame. It's been phenomenal. But we were definitely right, end of November 2020, this felt different. It felt more institutional. It felt like there was a lot more depth to it. So yeah, Tesla up 2.5% now as I speak. Thanks very much, guys, for this recap. I look forward to catching up with you later in the day.
