Fintech CEO: If You Think Tesla’s Acceptance of Bitcoin is the Headline, You’re Missing the Point

Tesla CEO Elon Musk Tweeted yesterday that “[y]ou can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin.” This was the natural result of months of Tesla-dominance in the crypto-universe. The follow up Tweet, noted that “Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly. Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.”

“Everybody’s talking about the first Tweet, but few are focusing on the second,” noted Richard Gardner, CEO of Modulus, a US-based developer of ultra-high-performance trading and surveillance technology that powers global equities, derivatives, and digital asset exchanges. “It is great for public relations that Tesla is accepting Bitcoin. But, the follow-up Tweet is even better for Bitcoin’s long-term fundamentals.”

The announcement itself, as of this writing, has over 850K likes, 135K retweets, and 34K comments. The follow-up Tweet has, by comparison, only collected 169K likes, 20K retweets, and 3400 comments.

“This is an example of shiny object syndrome. Everybody’s looking for a cool headline, and it is cool that Tesla is creating consumer choice. It is. But, it’s even more significant that the company’s leadership isn’t simply accepting Bitcoin and then cashing it in for fiat currency. If you’re a true crypto-advocate, you’ve gotta love that commitment to the movement,” Gardner said.

“Our company has been following the trends since Bitcoin was in its inception. We’ve seen companies move towards acceptance before. This isn’t new. Remember Subway accepting Bitcoin a few years back? Tesla is a powerhouse name, no doubt. But, it is less than a day after the announcement, and there are already articles talking about it being difficult to conduct the sale, and so forth. If you’re only looking at this from the angle of acceptance, you’re missing why this is really an epic move,” noted Gardner.

Modulus is known throughout the financial technology segment as a leader in the development of ultra-high frequency trading systems and blockchain technologies. Over the past twenty years, the company has built technology for the world’s most notable exchanges, with a client list which includes NASDAQ, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Barclays, Siemens, Shell, Yahoo!, Microsoft, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago. Last month, the company released a groundbreaking Blockchain-as-a-Service offering, an enterprise blockchain for decentralized verification and tracking, featuring cutting-edge AI-based capabilities.

“Obviously only Elon speaks for Elon, but I have to think that he’d appreciate more coverage of his intent to hold the Bitcoin rather than simply accept it. The latter is simply good business. The former is what sets him apart as a true advocate of Bitcoin as an alternative currency. That’s something you don’t see every day,” said Gardner.