Mark Zuckerberg has shown a strong, long-term interest in cryptocurrency, though his initiatives have faced major setbacks. Through Meta, he previously spearheaded the failed Libra/Diem project, launched the Novi digital wallet, and currently explores stablecoin integrations. He has also faced calls from shareholders to add Bitcoin to the company’s treasury.
Meta $META (META) co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is ambitious about experimenting with cryptocurrency. His company once ventured into cryptocurrency development with a project called Diem, initially known as Libra. However, mounting regulatory pressures forced the premature shutdown of the initiative.
Interestingly, Musk touted a cryptocurrency-powered “everything app” through X Money last year, but no concrete announcements have been made since. The community has long speculated about integrating cryptocurrencies on X, fueled by Musk's enduring interest in assets like Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE).
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
Bill Gates has made it clear—he's not a fan of cryptocurrency. And he's not just skeptical; he flat-out thinks it has no value. "None," he told The New York Times in a January interview. That's a pretty bold stance coming from one of the most successful tech minds in history.
Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego, a billionaire from Mexico and one of the three richest people in the country, has put 70% of his wealth in bitcoin.
$Trump (stylized in all caps) is a meme coin associated with United States president Donald Trump, hosted on the Solana blockchain platform.
Gates has been critical of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. According to him, cryptocurrencies provide no "valuable output", contribute nothing to society, and pose a danger especially for smaller investors who could not survive the potentially high losses. Gates also does not own any cryptocurrencies himself.
"That is why Bitcoin is based on energy: you can issue fake fiat currency, and every government in history has done so, but it is impossible to fake energy," Musk wrote on X.
Despite extreme volatility, Bitcoin's price has skyrocketed 1,060% in the past five years as I write this. This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.
Bitcoin's price finally broke through the US$1 mark in 2011, and moved as high as US$29.60 that year. However, in 2012 Bitcoin pulled back and remained relatively muted. Bitcoin's price saw its first significant growth in earnest in 2013, the year it broke through both US$100 and US$1,000.
50 Cent received 700 Bitcoin (worth $455,000) for his 2014 album “Animal Ambition” and promptly forgot about it. With Bitcoin now trading at over $107,000 per coin, his forgotten stash is worth approximately $76 million, nearly double his current $40 million net worth.
Trump promoted his own cryptocurrency meme coin, $Trump, and maintained significant investments in crypto with his family company World Liberty Financial, all of which raised significant conflict of interest concerns.
Is Cryptocurrency Mentioned in Scripture? Since cryptocurrency was not developed as a concept until the late 1990s, and it wasn't invented until about a decade later, it is not mentioned in the Bible.