Crypto rumor suggests Jeff Bezos sold $8.5 billion in Amazon stock to buy Bitcoin

Speculation in the crypto industry is nothing new. With Bitcoin reaching past $60k this week, fueled by institutional interest, such speculations could do more harm than good.

The latest rumor (read: unconfirmed) is that Jeff Bezos is buying Bitcoin. The rumor is based on an X post from Apollo co-founder Thomas Fahrer’s post on X, which presents conjectures on the possibility that Bitcoin could be the reason behind Bezos’ recent stock selloff.

Is Jeff Bezos piling into #Bitcoin right now?

Mingling with Michael Saylor? ✔️

Just liquidated $8.5 billion in Amazon stock? ✔️

Sitting on cash? Unlikely, he’s sharper than that. ✔️

Bitcoin’s price pump, hinting at billionaire FOMO?✔️

Something’s up. 🤔 pic.twitter.com/C4Aq3QKUPR

— Thomas | heyapollo.com (@thomas_fahrer) February 28, 2024

The reason behind this, Fahrer speculates, is “billionaire FOMO,” or fear of missing out. The reasoning could be skewed, though, and Bezos has yet to make any announcements on the matter. There is also no solid evidence that Bezos did buy, as no public records support this claim.

A February 21 report from Bloomberg indicates that the Amazon founder had sold up to 50 million shares of the company’s stock. This sale unloads roughly $8.5 billion worth of funding for Bezos to buy Bitcoin, purportedly.

There is some connection in the fact that Fahrer’s tweet shows a photo of Bezos with his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, at a birthday celebration. For context, this photo is from a New York Post article published on June 12, 2023.

In the screenshot of the article as tweeted by Fahrer, MicroStrategy chief Michael Saylor was mentioned as attending the celebration, held in a yacht docked at the port of Gustavia on the island of Saint Barthélemy in France.

However, the current version of the article (linked above) no longer mentions Saylor. Notably, it has also changed the location of the yacht to Portofino, Italy.

This kind of content may be unreliable, particularly for crypto investors. It’s advisable to #DYOR, or “do your own research” before participating in any investment, whether it’s Bitcoin, decentralized finance, NFTs, or others.

According to data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin is now trading at the $62,600 level.

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