Elon Musk predicts that bitcoin is “on the verge” of being more widely accepted

"I am a supporter of Bitcoin."

Elon Musk has offered his support to Bitcoin, claiming he should have bought it eight years ago. Speaking on the invitation-only social media app Clubhouse, the billionaire told thousands of listeners that he is a "supporter" of the popular cryptocurrency.

He said: "I think bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people... I was a little slow on the uptake, I do think at this point that bitcoin is a good thing."

The value of Bitcoin recently increased when Musk changed his Twitter bio to '#Bitcoin'. The value of the currency has doubled since November, and is now valued at €27,893.54 (as of 1 February). This means that if you were to buy one bitcoin, it would cost you €27,893, compared to just a few months ago, when it would have cost half that. While Musk is one of the richest men in the world, he has drawn some criticism for some of his early Covid-19 predictions, particularly the one below from March of last year: Meanwhile, Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf has said that Bitcoin investors should be prepared to "lose all their money".

However, Makhlouf said that he doesn’t see "financial stability issues at the moment arising from Bitcoin itself".

“I worry more about about consumers making the right choices," he said.