Elon Musk: Dogecoin is better suited for transactions than Bitcoin

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and also the richest man in the world, has reiterated his preference for the meme-inspired cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE) over Bitcoin (BTC).

On Monday, Time magazine named Musk Person of the Year 2021. In an interview   with Time, Musk said that he prefers Dogecoin over Bitcoin when it comes to transactions:

“Basically, Bitcoin is not a good substitute for a transaction currency. Even though Dogecoiner was created as a stupid joke, it is more suitable for transactions. Bitcoin’s transaction volume is low and the cost per transaction is high. “

In Musk’s view, the two cryptocurrencies offset each other’s weaknesses. Bitcoin is better for storing value – that’s why investors would rather hoard it than sell it or use it for transactional purposes, Elon Musk says. Dogecoin, on the other hand, encourages people to spend money instead of hoarding it as a store of value. “

Dogecoin vs. Bitcoin

Its proponents largely agree that Bitcoin is a store of value. But they also see it as a solid payment instrument for transactions. In this regard, they refer to the use of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.

However, Dogecoin transaction confirmation times are significantly shorter than Bitcoin’s. The block throughput for Bitcoin is one block every ten minutes. Dogecoin manages ten blocks in that time, and what’s more, DOGE transactions are considerably cheaper than BTC transactions.

Also, BTC’s supply is limited to 21 million coins, while DOGE’s supply is unlimited, making DOGE hoarding difficult. Those who want to accumulate prefer a cryptocurrency that will become scarce in order to achieve an increase in value.

As much as Musk is a vocal supporter of cryptocurrency, he has assured that he is not a critic of fiat currencies like many other crypto enthusiasts have become.

“Cryptocurrencies have the advantage over fiat currencies that they cannot be inflated by the government. In the end, the people who have their savings in fiat currency pay the bill. “

In February, Musk announced that he had bought Dogecoin for his son X. Later in July, he said he had added DOGE to his portfolio in addition to BTC and Ether . In November he spoke of plans to open a university where the fees would be paid in DOGE and students who keep a dog should get a discount on the tuition fee.