Musk says SpaceX holds bitcoin, Tesla ‘likely’ to resume accepting it

Musk says SpaceX holds bitcoin, Tesla ‘likely’ to resume accepting it

Popular cryptocurrencies edged higher on Wednesday, after Elon Musk disclosed for the first time that his private rocket company SpaceX holds bitcoin and Tesla would "most likely" resume accepting it as payment for its electric cars.

Musk outlined his cryptocurrency investments during a panel at "The B Word" online conference hosted by the Crypto Council for Innovation, alongside Jack Dorsey, chief executive of Twitter and payments group Square, and chief executive of Ark Invest Cathie Wood.

Musk said he personally held bitcoin, ethereum and the more niche dogecoin, while two of his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, were bitcoin holders "” and would remain that way.

"We're not selling any bitcoin, nor am I selling anything personally," he said. "I would like to see bitcoin succeed."

Answering to critics who accuse him of encouraging and profiting from wild crypto price swings with bold statements on Twitter, where he has more than 58m followers, Musk reiterated his commitment to the digital token: "If the price of Bitcoin goes down, I lose money. I might pump, but I don't dump," he said.

Bitcoin rose more than 5 per cent to $31,600, while ethereum was up by more than 7 per cent to $1,900.

During Wednesday's discussion, Musk, Dorsey and