Hacker News Reader

> That said, Tesla's Bitcoin purchase does make a lot of sense. Elon Musk went on Twitter and called Bitcoin "BS" to drive the price down so they could buy at a discount. They then announced their Bitcoin purchase with fanfare that drove the price up, marking a quick return on their investment. They used Elon's influence to make a quick profit on the frenzy.

Is that even legal? It sounds like pumping and dumping.

View on HN

It's technically not pumping and dumping because Elon posts memes that shill his investments but he rarely gives a call to action and if possible avoids naming the cryptocurrency in question.

He's definitively manipulating the market in the sense of the colloquial meaning of the word.

If there are public signals that predict the performance of a stock then those who benefit the most are those who execute their trades as quickly as possible and since Elon knows what he is going to "announce" on his Twitter account he is going to benefit massively.

he rarely gives a call to action and if possible avoids naming the cryptocurrency in question

He has put the term "bitcoin" in his twitter bio.

Its bitcoin, there is no legal framework.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com