Anonymous Threatens Elon Musk For Tweets Affecting Crypto Market

Elon Musk is the target of a new video allegedly posted by hacktivist collective Anonymous on Saturday, 5 June 2021, accusing the billionaire of manipulating the cryptocurrency market with several viral tweets he sent out over the last few weeks.

In the video, a person wearing a Guy Fawkes mask with a digitally modified voice calls out the Tesla and SpaceX CEO for his “clear disregard for the average working person”.

“Reading from the comments on your Twitter posts, it seems that the games you have played with the crypto markets have destroyed lives. Millions of retail investors were really counting on their crypto gains to improve their lives,” said Anonymous.

“This is something you will never understand because you were born into the stolen wealth of a South African apartheid emerald mine and have no clue what struggle is like for most of the working people in the world.”

Elon Musk, who has over 56 million Twitter followers, has been very vocal about cryptocurrencies on the platform. His tweets appear to have the power to cause prices to skyrocket or plunge. In the case of Bitcoin late last month, however, it was the latter, with prices falling from US$65,000 to US$30,000.

Earlier in May, Musk tweeted that his company, Tesla, will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing the environmental impact of mining the cryptocurrency. This would cause the price of Bitcoin to plummet. It would later drop again in June after he tweeted a Bitcoin hashtag with the broken heart emoji, along with a meme of a couple breaking up.

Musk similarly caused prices of Dogecoin to tumble after calling the so-called “joke currency” a “hustle” during his Saturday Night Live appearance in early May, despite being one of its biggest proponents for a long time.

“As hardworking people have their dreams liquidated over your public temper tantrums, you continue to mock them with memes from one of your million-dollar mansions,” Anonymous added.

While it’s not known for sure whether the video is really from the infamous hacking group, it’s clear that whoever is behind it is sending a message to Musk on behalf of other investors who may have lost hundreds, thousands, if not, millions of dollars in the recent cryptocurrency price crashes.

“For the past several years you have enjoyed one of the most favourable reputations of anyone in the billionaire class because you have tapped into the desire that many of us have to live in a world with electric cars and space exploration. But recently your carefully-curated public image is being exposed and people are beginning to see you as another narcissistic rich dude desperate for attention.”

Anonymous claims that Tesla’s income actually comes from government subsidies of electric cars, rather than actual sales, going as far as saying the company made more money holding Bitcoin in a few months than selling cars in years.

“There are plenty of companies working on space exploration and electric vehicles,” said Anonymous. “You are just the only CEO who has gained a cult following through sh*tposting and trolling the world on social media.”

The group also criticises Musk for his ownership of lithium mines, which the group claims are contributing to the destruction of the environment, and for allowing his employees to work in “intolerable conditions”.

Anonymous ended the video with a familiar and ominous warning, to “expect us”. Musk has yet to directly respond to the video, but he did send out some cryptic tweets that seemingly address some of the allegations.

---

Written by Kyle Chua