Tesla founder Elon Musk on Wednesday said that he does manipulate or ‘dump’ the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies even though he had personally invested in them. During an online panel discussion, Musk said that he believes that cryptocurrencies were a way to make an individual more powerful in relation with a government. The panel also included Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Musk mentioned that he had personally invested in bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin. Musk said he loses money when the value of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies declines but that he has not been selling despite the volatility.

“I pump but I don’t dump,” he told the forum sponsored by the Crypto Council for Innovation.

Musk added that he would like to see the bitcoin succeed.

The 50-year-old said he expected that Tesla would resume auto sales in bitcoin which he suspended over concerns about high energy use for “mining” of the cryptocurrency.

“Tesla’s mission is accelerating the advent of sustainable energy,” he said.

Cryptocurrency essentially means there is no physical form of money. The transactions between individuals and organisations take place entirely online, through the internet. 

Jack Dorsey, Twitter head, also backed bitcoin saying that the currency could act as a way to reduce transaction costs. Dorsey’s digital payments firm called Square recently announced plans for a bitcoin wallet.

He said that he sees bitcoin as a ‘native currency’ for the internet that allows more people to easily make cross-border payments and supports different online business models.

The cryptocurrency opened up various possibilities and business models for Twitter, he said. This would help the social media platform to reduce its dependency on advertising, believes Dorsey.

“We can’t just see this as an asset that we own and an investment vehicle is something that has the potential to change everything and make the lives of everyone was kind of better in some small, maybe marginal way,” he said.

“My hope is that it creates world peace.”