On June 20, Michael Dell, the Chief Executive Officer of Dell, the American technology company known for developing, selling, repairing, and supporting computers and related products and services, shared his thoughts on bitcoin via the social media platform X. This interaction began with a response from Michael Saylor, the founder of Microstrategy.
Digital Scarcity — Billionaire Michael Dell and Michael Saylor Exchange Dialogue on Bitcoin
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Dell CEO Michael Dell Posts About Bitcoin; His Fortune 500 Company Once Accepted the Leading Crypto Asset for Payments
This week, Michael Dell’s posts about bitcoin sparked a lively discussion among cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Since its establishment in 1984 by Michael Dell, the company has risen to become one of the largest personal computer vendors globally. On Thursday, Dell took to X, stating “Scarcity creates value,” to which Michael Saylor responded, “ Bitcoin is Digital Scarcity.”
Following Saylor’s comment, Dell re-shared the statement, amplifying the Microstrategy founder’s view on his X timeline. Subsequently, Dell also shared an image of the Cookie Monster from Sesame Street humorously depicted as consuming bitcoins, adding, “This is a great account to follow @MeCookieMonster. Very entertaining,” on his X post.
Dell has a longstanding history with bitcoin, having started to accept BTC as payment back in July 2014. At that time, it was one of the biggest e-commerce businesses to adopt such a strategy. By February 2015, Dell had extended its bitcoin payment options to the U.K. and Canada after a successful U.S. pilot. During this period, Dell also ran promotions, including offering a 10% discount on Alienware products for customers who paid using bitcoin.
However, the situation shifted in 2017. Despite initial excitement, Dell ceased accepting bitcoin payments that year. The pilot program with bitcoin was discontinued as a result of scant demand, rendering the continuation of this payment method impractical for the firm. In the same year, various prominent brands including Steam also stopped accepting bitcoin due to network congestion and elevated transaction fees at that time. Expedia stopped directly accepting bitcoin the following year in 2018.
Alongside his dialogue with Saylor, Michael Dell initiated a poll on X, posing the question, “What do you think will be the next big breakthrough in tech?” The options provided were quantum computing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and space tech. As of 1:09 p.m. EDT, with 19 hours remaining, blockchain leads the poll with 37.6% of 13,406 votes. Given that nearly a day is still left, the results could shift significantly.
What do you think about Michael Dell’s comments about bitcoin this week? Share your thoughts and opinions about this subject in the comments section below.
