‘We Need Change’ – Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s US ‘Bankrupt’ Warning Backs Bitcoin Price Bull for Treasury

On November 17, 2024By Littum

Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire who has become a close adviser to US President Donald Trump, surprised people with an unexpected crypto endorsement this week.

Unlock over $3,000 in perks, including unparalleled access to a community of top Web3 entrepreneurs, creators and investors, giving you premium networking, priority access to global events, free access to Forbes.com and ours Forbes CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor Newsletter. Apply now!

Musk has repeatedly warned in recent weeks that out-of-control U.S. government spending could trigger a U.S. “financial emergency” — as wild rumors of the nation-state’s bitcoin adoption help fuel a bitcoin price explosion toward $100,000 .

Now, as traders are betting that Trump will follow through with an outlandish plan to create a strategic bitcoin reserve and wipe out the $35 trillion U.S. debt with bitcoin, Elon Musk has backed Cantor Fitzgerald CEO and bitcoin price gouger Howard Lutnick for Trump’s Treasury Secretary.

Sign up for free now CryptoCodex—A daily five-minute newsletter for traders, investors and the crypto-curious that will keep you updated and ahead of the bitcoin and crypto market bull run

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, who has repeatedly warned of US financial collapse, has helped … (+) The bitcoin price has risen in recent years.

Getty Images

“My view, for what it’s worth, is that (Scott) Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas Howard Lutnick will actually implement change,” Musk submitted to X. “Business-as-usual is bankrupting America, so we have to change one way or another.”

The U.S. national debt has skyrocketed in recent years, crossing $34 trillion in early 2024 as Covid stimulus measures sent inflation spiraling out of control and raised fears of “catalytic collapse.”

Musk was responding to an X post made by money manager Kyle Bass, who called hedge fund CEO Bessent “eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to lead the U.S. Treasury.”

Musk said he would be “open to” interviewing Bessent and Lutnick on an X Spaces broadcast, as his support pushed Lutnick’s odds of winning the Treasury role to more or less even with Bessent on the crypto-powered prediction platform Polymarket.

Meanwhile, Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr., named this week as Trump’s health secretary pick, also endorsed Lutnick for Trump’s Treasury secretary, secondment in response to Bass that “bitcoin has no stronger advocate” than Lutnik.

Forbes‘Huge Things Coming’—Bitcoin Suddenly Explodes as Secret ‘Nation-State’ Adoption Mystery Rumors Spark Crypto Price BoomBy Billy Bambrough

The Bitcoin price has risen higher this year and has surged since Donald Trump won the White House and … (+) helped along by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

Forbes Digital Assets

“Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle-class Americans, an antidote to the dollar’s downgrade from the world’s reserve currency, and the shield from a crippling national debt,” RFK Jr. wrote.

Earlier this month, Lutnick, who heads Trump’s White House transition team, told investor and YouTuber Anthony Pompliano that he has “hundreds of millions of dollars of exposure” to bitcoin.

“It will be billions,” said Lutnick, who manages the assets of $127 billion USDT stablecoin issuer Tether through Cantor Fitzgerald. “Bitcoin, which is rare and special, will become increasingly rare, increasingly valuable, over time it will be financed like gold (and) oil. Bitcoin will be far, far, much higher – sometimes lower – you just have to believe.”