No Mention of Crypto During Pro-Crypto Trump & Dogecoin Supporter Musk's Interview
Over a million individuals tuned in to hear former President Donald Trump engage with Tesla's Elon Musk during a two-hour Spaces interview on X, with many from the cryptocurrency community anticipating commentary on the industry.
My use of the word conversation is deliberate.
This is so that people understand how @realDonaldTrump talks when it’s a conversation, rather than an interview.
Nobody is quite themselves in an interview, so it’s hard to understand what they’re really like. https://t.co/H6G0RuwIM4
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2024
However, despite covering a variety of familiar topics such as securing the US's Southern border, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, immigration, inflation, trade, nuclear power, education, and his rivalry with Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential bid, Trump did not mention the cryptocurrency asset class.
After spending hours listening Elon & Trump space but they didn't mention #Crypto.
#TrumpOnX #Trump2024 #cryptocurrecy pic.twitter.com/gEHGw0HCfn
— Crypto University (@TheCryptoU) August 13, 2024
Trump took the opportunity to criticise the Biden administration for inflation, stating that "people have been absolutely decimated" by it, and emphasised the need to "get the prices down."
Additionally, the former president levelled criticism at the FDA and the Department of Education.
Musk also weighed in on the drug approval process, remarking that "the FDA takes too long" and that he had approved therapeutics at "numbers they wouldn't believe, and it's very bureaucratic."
Interestingly, Trump advocated for a "right to try" law, which allows people to use unapproved drugs that have not yet received FDA approval.
This is the long version. Shorter edit of highlights coming soon. https://t.co/Ksm6UqdIq6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
Musk Aiming for Role in White House
The conversation also delved into economic concerns, with Musk proposing the establishment of a "government efficiency commission" and offering his services to contribute to its success.
Musk stated:
"I'd be happy to help out on such a commission—I'd love if it were formed."
Intriguingly, Trump seemed receptive to the idea.
So, all that dog whistling and right wing fist wagging was just so @elonmusk could announce he wants a role in the Trump White House 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
— SAGE THE THRICE BORN (@SageBigavelli) August 11, 2024
Musk's relationship with Trump has grown closer than ever, particularly as he has advised the former president on electric vehicles and cryptocurrency policies, following a tumultuous rapport with the Biden administration.
During Trump's previous tenure, Musk was a member of White House advisory councils but ultimately stepped down in the wake of Trump's decision regarding the Paris Climate Accord.
$4M+ Polymarket Bets; One Bettor Scored Over $1M
Over $4 million was at stake on Polymarket, the largest prediction market platform, with participants eagerly awaiting whether Trump would mention various keywords, with "crypto" being the most anticipated, carrying over $800,000 in bets.
As the interview commenced, bettors had collectively wagered just over $1 million, giving a 56% likelihood each to Trump mentioning "crypto" or "Bitcoin."
However, these odds quickly diminished and continued to fall throughout the interview, reaching a low of 1% by its conclusion.
Despite the anticipation, crypto enthusiasts were left disappointed, although other keywords did surface during the conversation, such as "MAGA," "illegal immigrant," and "tampon," the latter arising when Trump referenced Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and a law concerning feminine hygiene products.
Bettors had placed over $250,000 on the likelihood of Trump mentioning "Tesla," with odds peaking at 79%.
However, Trump circumvented the specific term by referring to Musk's electric vehicle brand as "your cars."
Each share on Polymarket pays out $1 in USDC, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, if the prediction is accurate, and $0 if it is not.
The platform did not offer markets for mentions of other digital assets like ether, solana, or dogecoin.
One user, identified as 'bama1234,' emerged with just over $1 million in winnings by correctly predicting most of the words Trump did or did not say during the interview.
A savvy Polymarket user walked away with almost $1 million after accurately predicting the exact words former President Donald Trump would—and would not say—during a high-profile X Spaceshttps://t.co/qnymcUwIT1
— crypto.news (@cryptodotnew) August 13, 2024
Their largest payout came from betting against Trump mentioning "crypto," which resulted in a cash-out of $336,918.
However, the user did not correctly predict Trump saying "MAGA" early in the interview or mentioning "Trans," which the user anticipated but which the Republican candidate did not ultimately say.
Musk Claimed DDoS Attack Caused Interview Delay
The eagerly awaited dialogue between Musk and Trump commenced with the Spaces platform encountering a disruption due to a Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attack, as reported by Musk on Monday evening (Tuesday morning in SGT).
There appears to be a massive DDOS attack on 𝕏. Working on shutting it down.
Worst case, we will proceed with a smaller number of live listeners and post the conversation later.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
A DDoS attack is characterised by its attempt to overwhelm a network or service with excessive traffic, thereby preventing legitimate users from accessing it.
This incident occurred amidst technical difficulties that beset the X Space scheduled for 8:00 pm Eastern Time, with numerous X users reporting their inability to join.
This is unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining!
If you have specific questions & comments, post them under the chat.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2024
The site initially displayed the stream as "not available," yet approximately 120,000 users succeeded in accessing the Space.
Musk announced the interruption on Twitter at 8:18 pm ET, noting that the system had undergone testing earlier in the day with eight million nonconcurrent listeners.
We tested the system with 8 million concurrent listeners earlier today https://t.co/ymqGBFEJX0
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
Those who successfully entered the Space, including several Verge staff members, described the event as beginning with lo-fi techno music emanating from Trump's account for about 30 minutes.
Musk managed to initiate the interview shortly after 8:30 pm ET, which he had previously indicated would "proceed with a smaller number of live listeners," with the unedited audio to be posted "immediately thereafter."
We will proceed with the smaller number of concurrent listeners at 8:30 ET and then post the unedited audio immediately thereafter https://t.co/oxF8PsNHnZ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
However, once the Spaces resumed, the number of listeners exceeded 1 million accounts.
Musk said to open the interview:
"As this attack demonstrates, there's a lot of opposition to what Donald Trump has to say."
The remainder of X seemed to be functioning normally, and a company source confirmed to The Verge that there was no actual denial-of-service attack.
Another X staff member suggested there was a "99 percent" chance that Elon was not being truthful about the attack.
An alert from the cybersecurity watchdog organisation Netblocks indicated that X Spaces was experiencing international outages but did not verify if it was a DDOS attack.
⚠️ Note: X Spaces are currently experiencing international outages; the incident is understood to be due to server issues as the platform hosts a live interview between Elon Musk and US presidential candidate Donald Trump #TwitterDown pic.twitter.com/5EMcJ4Z8BK
— NetBlocks (@netblocks) August 13, 2024
So was the delay really because of a DDoS attack or did Musk lie to cover up?
And if so, what was the cover up for?
EU Warned Musk of Interview
In a recent communication addressed to Musk before the interview, Thierry Breton, a member of the EU Commission, cautioned the tech entrepreneur about the obligations imposed by the Digital Services Act (DSA).
The letter underscored Musk's responsibility to monitor and control the dissemination of harmful content on X.
With great audience comes greater responsibility #DSA
As there is a risk of amplification of potentially harmful content in 🇪🇺 in connection with events with major audience around the world, I sent this letter to @elonmusk
📧⤵️ pic.twitter.com/P1IgxdPLzn
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) August 12, 2024
Breton warned Musk that he must adhere to EU legislation, particularly given the "risk of amplification of potentially harmful content" posed by the interview with Trump.
The letter also noted that one-third of X's user base resides within the EU region.
The EU Commission expressed concerns about the potential risks associated with the Musk and Trump interview.
They urged Musk to ensure that X complies with EU laws, especially during events that could propagate harmful content.
Breton cited recent instances where content on X has fueled public unrest, emphasizing the necessity for robust content moderation.
The letter serves as a reminder that X must strike a balance between safeguarding freedom of expression and protecting public safety.
In response to Thierry Breton's latest post on X, Elon Musk offered a seemingly sarcastic reply, simply stating, "Bonjour!"
Bonjour!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2024
Breton reiterated that X must conform to EU regulations, particularly during events that could exacerbate the spread of harmful content.
He referenced recent examples of US riots, highlighting the role of content on X in contributing to public disturbances, and underscored the need for effective moderation.
X CEO Linda Yaccarino characterised Breton's letter as "an unprecedented attempt to extend a law intended for Europe to political activities in the US."
This is an unprecedented attempt to stretch a law intended to apply in Europe to political activities in the US. It also patronizes European citizens, suggesting they are incapable of listening to a conversation and drawing their own conclusions. https://t.co/RmxL4VFuvV
— Linda Yaccarino (@lindayaX) August 12, 2024
Despite the EU Commission's warnings, Musk and Trump engaged in a broad discussion that touched on topics such as inflation and the state of the US economy.
Commenting on the EU's caution regarding the spread of misinformation, Musk stated that "there's a lot of attempts to impose censorship on other countries."
pic.twitter.com/W0t0NIxAdQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024