Bitcoin’s value edged higher on Monday morning after the cryptocurrency received another endorsement from Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) boss and billionaire Elon Musk.
Speaking in an invitation only audio-chat app, Musk said he thought Bitcoin “is a good thing” and that he “should have bought some Bitcoin eight years ago”.
READ: Bank of England governor warns Bitcoin’s days are numbered
“I was a little slow on the uptake…but…I am a supporter of Bitcoin”, he added.
Following Musk’s comments, the price of Bitcoin rose 1.6% over 24 hours on Monday to US$34,260, following another Musk-inspired bounce last week when the price surged after the billionaire changed his Twitter bio to the Bitcoin hashtag, interpreted by many as implicit support of the digital currency.
Musk has teased his support for crypto’s for a long time, infrequently mentioning Bitcoin on Twitter in cryptic fashion, often resulting in the price of the crypto to rise in response.
The Tesla CEO’s comments also stand in contrast to those made by senior figures in more traditional financial institutions such as Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey, who said last week that digital currencies such as Bitcoin will not last long in their current form due to a lack of design and governance that will give them staying power in global finance.