Crypto Winter Is Behind, Damage Absorbed: Expert Mohamed A. El-Erian

Head of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor has shared a recent interview of the renowned economist Mohamed A. El-Erian to CNBC during a recent Squawk Box show episode about Bitcoin and crypto overall.

El-Erian has explained the recent Bitcoin price increase, citing a popular opinion of the crypto winter being over now.

“Damage has been absorbed”

Answering a question from a Squawk Box co-host Andrew Sorkin, the prominent economist and financial expert Mohamed A. El-Erian said that he believes the recent increase of Bitcoin to the $23,400 zone and then to the $24,000 level has happened because the crypto winter may be over.

According to him, a large number of investors believe that this recent period that many have called a “crypto winter” is now behind, damage after it has been absorbed and “we have a better base to go forward”.

“A lot of people think that the crypto winter is now behind us; the damage has been absorbed, there has been a flushing out of excesses, and now we have a better base to go forward.” – @elerianm on #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/UhjKLyoytE

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) July 22, 2022

Tesla dumps $940 million worth of Bitcoin

Earlier this week, the fact of Tesla converting 75 percent of its Bitcoin holdings into cash pushed the price of the flagship cryptocurrency roughly 3 percent down – slightly above the $23,000 level.

Tesla has sold the most of the Bitcoin it had been holding since early 2021 when it acquired a $1.5 billion worth of BTC and then started accepting it as payment. However, later that year, it shut down BTC payments over reasons to do with environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining.

After selling the BTC, Tesla put $936 million in cash on its balance sheet. However, Elon Musk later on stated that the company is open to buying more Bitcoin in the future and this sale should not be viewed as a negative attitude towards BTC.

At the moment, Bitcoin is changing hands at $22,522, according to CoinMarketCap.