Elon Musk has shared and deleted a meme featuring a fake quote about cryptocurrency from billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO posted the meme to Twitter on Monday, before apparently removing it shortly after. It received more 7,000 shares before it was taken down.
“Find as many coins as you can,” the supposed quote from Mr Buffett read. “And fast!”
Mr Musk followed it up with a tweet, which remains online, stating: “Warren Buffett [heart emoji] Sizzler buffet,” apparently in reference to the California restaurant chain.
Mr Buffett, who has an estimated net worth of more than $100 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, has previously dismissed bitcoin as a gamble rather than an investment.
“There’s two kinds of items that people buy and think they’re investing: One really is investing and the other isn’t,” the 90-year-old head of Berkshire Hathaway said in 2018.
“If you buy something like bitcoin or some cryptocurrency, you don’t really have anything that has produced anything. You’re just hoping the next guy pays more.”
The renowned investor added: “You aren’t investing when you [buy bitcoin], you’re speculating.”
Mr Buffett first dismissed bitcoin back in 2014, when he referred to it as a “mirage”. At the time, the cryptocurrency was trading at around $600 having fallen from a record high in 2013 above $1,000.
Bitcoin saw massive gains to take it above $20,000 in 2017, though Mr Buffett still referred to it then as “rat poison squared”. It is currently worth more than $34,000.
In contrast, Mr Musk has been one of the most high-profile advocates for cryptocurrency in recent years.
The world’s second richest person has caused the crypto market to move on numerous occasions after publicly endorsing or rejecting a cryptocurrency.
Tesla became the biggest company to directly accept bitcoin payments earlier this year, however it has since blocked them due to environmental concerns about its energy-guzzling network.
The electric carmaker continues to hold more than $1 billion worth of bitcoin, having transferred a portion of its cash reserves to cryptocurrency.
“The true battle is between fiat and crypto,” Mr Musk tweeted at the time. “On balance, I support the latter.”
His frequent tweets about dogecoin have also helped push the meme-inspired cryptocurrency to a new all-time high this year above $0.70, having risen from just two-tenths of a cent this time last year.
