The meme itself traces back to a contest on r/bitcoin more than a decade ago. In April 2013, subreddit moderators asked users to design an ad that could run in Reddit’s sidebar; a hastily drawn MS-Paint wizard riding a gold coin and declaring “magic internet money” won by popular vote. Despite (or perhaps because of) its crude aesthetic, the image encapsulated BTC’s outsider charm and has since become shorthand for the cryptocurrency’s defiant irreverence.
Musk’s public statements have rarely moved markets as violently as they did during the 2021–2022 bull run, yet his influence endures. Tesla still lists more than 10,725 BTC on its balance sheet, and SpaceX is believed to hold a further nine-figure stash. Against that backdrop, even a laughing-crying emoji reads as tacit endorsement—especially when it revives a relic of BTC’s anarchic infancy.
At press time, BTC traded at $116,560.
