Binance.US CEO says that Elon Musk is good for crypto and that his interest in the space is more important than what he tweets

GettyImages 1157175818 — Elon Musk at the SpaceX headquarters in Los Angeles on July 21, 2019.
MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images

Binance.US CEO supports Elon Musk's constant tweeting about cryptocurrencies.
"If Elon Musk is this interested in crypto, crypto must be pretty important," CEO Brian Brooks told Bloomberg.
Brooks also called ethereum "the current platform for building things."
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Binance.US CEO Brian Brooks said Elon Musk's keen interest in cryptocurrencies is a positive for the space - regardless of how wildly prices swing after he tweets.

"Whether he's pushing markets up or down, that's probably good in the long term," Brooks told Bloomberg in an interview. "If Elon Musk is this interested in crypto, crypto must be pretty important."

One tweet from the Tesla chief can move the cryptocurrencies, and have pushed prices of bitcoin and dogecoin in both directions over the past year. Regulators in the past have tried to police Musk's tweets, but have had little success.

On Friday, bitcoin slipped as much as 8% after Musk posted a broken-heart emoji and a reference to a popular Linkin Park song to his 56 million Twitter followers, signaling a potential breakup with the digital asset.

Friday's tweet came three weeks after Tesla halted payments made in bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has fallen more than 40% since its April record high of nearly $65,000.

"I sure hope he's not trading when the prices move after he tweets," Brooks told Bloomberg. "But if he isn't, it's a country with free speech,"

Brooks added that "short-term market panics are never a good reason for anybody to buy and sell."

Brooks took the helm of Binance.US, currently the third largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, in May.

He was the chief legal officer of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, which went public via a direct listing in April.

Brooks also expressed positive sentiment towards ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market valuation.

"I'm all in for the moment," Brooks told Bloomberg, calling ethereum "the current platform for building things."

While the cryptocurrency has suffered alongside others thanks to a massive selloff in May, ethereum's market share leaped to its highest point as investors took advantage of the price drop.

Read the original article on Business Insider