Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of American technology company Dell, recently retweeted a tweet from Microstrategy founder Michael Saylor about Bitcoin, commenting on “scarcity creating value,” which sparked a heated discussion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
Recently, Michael Dell, the CEO of Dell, a well-known American technology giant that specializes in the development, sales, maintenance, and support of computers and related products and services, shared his views on Bitcoin through X. The initial interaction started with a response from the founder of Microstrategy, but Michael Dell’s post about Bitcoin sparked a lively discussion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Since its establishment in 1984, the company has grown into one of the world’s largest personal computer suppliers.
On June 21st, Dell tweeted, “Scarcity creates value,” a phrase often associated with Bitcoin because Bitcoin has a supply limit of 21 million while demand continues to rise.
His tweet quickly caught the attention of Michael Saylor, the founder of Microstrategy and a prominent Bitcoin advocate. He then shared an image containing Bitcoin.
The real key, however, was that Dell later shared an image of the Sesame Street Cookie Monster, which may have been generated by artificial intelligence or processed through Photoshop, and this blue furry creature is chewing on Bitcoin instead of the chocolate chips he usually eats.
This image has been interpreted as: Although this small gesture does not mean that Dell is about to fully invest in Bitcoin like Saylor (whose company owns 22,6331 Bitcoins worth $15 billion), it makes people wonder: Has this billionaire in the tech industry developed an interest in cryptocurrency? Maybe, just maybe.
Dell started accepting Bitcoin as payment ten years ago
In fact, Dell’s collaboration with Bitcoin has a long history. As early as July 2014, Dell started accepting Bitcoin as a payment method. At that time, Dell was one of the largest e-commerce companies to adopt this strategy. By February 2015, after a successful pilot in the United States, Dell expanded its Bitcoin payment option to the United Kingdom and Canada. During this period, Dell also launched promotions, including a 10% discount on Alienware products for customers who paid with Bitcoin.
However, things changed in 2017. Despite the initial excitement, Dell stopped accepting Bitcoin payments that year. Due to insufficient demand, the Bitcoin pilot program was terminated, making it impossible for the company to continue using this payment method.
That same year, several well-known brands, including Steam, also stopped accepting Bitcoin due to network congestion and high transaction fees at the time. The following year, in 2018, Expedia stopped directly accepting Bitcoin as well.
While talking with Saylor, Michael Dell conducted a poll on X, asking the question, “What do you think will be the next major breakthrough in the technology field?” The options provided included quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and space technology.
As of 1:09 PM Eastern Time, with 19 hours remaining, blockchain was leading the poll with 37.6% of the votes (13,406 votes). Considering that there is still almost a day left, the results may change significantly.
In addition, according to a recent filing, as of May 3rd, Dell’s current assets on the balance sheet were $34.6 billion, with $5.8 billion in cash and cash equivalents, with no mention of Bitcoin.
Joe Consorti, an analyst at the global macro research company Bitcoin Layer, believes that Bitcoin can benefit from companies like Dell Technologies because they may have additional cash with the emergence of AI technology, which reduces costs.
He wrote:
And added:
For companies, even holding a small portion of Bitcoin in their balance sheet (such as 1%) can give them a significant advantage in the competition.
For example, if Dell Technologies allocates 1% of its $58.3 billion cash reserve to Bitcoin, which is $58.3 million, based on Bitcoin’s historical annualized return rate of approximately 103.5% over the past decade, this investment could grow to $118.7 million within a year.
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