Musk-Twitter Deal ‘Great Win for Free Speech,’ Coinbase CEO Says

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase Global, has praised Elon Musk’s buying of Twitter as a victory for free speech.

He joins a chorus of others who have said as much, saying this could be “more transformative” than people think.

According to Armstrong, this could make Twitter protected from being “co-opted” again, if the company ends up moving to a decentralized protocol over time. It’s “a great win for free speech.”

Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion on Monday (April 25).

The announcement set off a wildfire of politician and CEO reactions to it, both positive and negative.

The report noted that Musk wants to make Twitter’s algorithms open source to increase user trust in the peoples’ “digital town square.”

See also: Tesla Shares Plunge 11% Following Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal

PYMNTS wrote that Tesla, the company Musk bought prior, saw its shares drop by 11% as of Tuesday (April 26), over $100 billion in valuation, as a result of Musk’s decision to buy Twitter.

The report says Musk bought the popular social media platform for $44 billion, which makes up $13 billion from lenders as well as a $12.5 billion loan secured against his stake in Tesla.

Musk didn’t say yet where the remaining $21 billion would be coming from, though this means he may have to sell off billions of dollars in shares in his electric car company. The idea of that happening has added pressure on Tesla. If the stock falls too much, it could add problems for Musk, with his loan secured against his stake in the company.

Musk is the biggest shareholder in Tesla.

Musk and his bankers with Morgan Stanley have reportedly been talking to other investors who may look to invest in Twitter with him, which might lower how much money Musk would have to come up with himself.