Bitcoin which is the largest and the most popular cryptocurrency was at $44,900 as of 7:21am today, after Elon Musk made it known via a tweet that his company has not sold any Bitcoin.
Earlier, the cryptocurrency drops to $42,185, which is recorded the lowest rate since February.
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Musk spent the recent days dueling on Twitter with pundits of his transition to suspend acknowledgment of Bitcoin transactions on environmental concern. On Sunday, the world billionaire appeared to concur with a post saying the electric-vehicle producer ought to strip what at one point was a $1.5 billion Bitcoin stake.
The adventure added to a souring temperament around cryptos overall in the midst of a pullback in different coins like Ether and Dogecoin.
Musk appears to have been “taking on all comers on Twitter over the weekend and caused some chunky gyrations across the coins,” Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd., wrote in a note.
Musk’s disclosure in early February that Tesla had invested $1.5 billion in corporate cash to buy Bitcoin sent the token’s price to a record and lent legitimacy to virtual currencies, which have come closer to being a more mainstream asset in recent months despite lingering skepticism.
But in the past week his online commentary shook the crypto faithful even as Musk reiterated his support for digital currencies overall.
He lopped nearly $10,000 off the price of Bitcoin in hours last Wednesday after saying Tesla would no longer accept it as payment for cars. In the same statement, the tycoon said the firm wouldn’t be selling its holdings.
Dogecoin
A few days earlier, Musk had hosted “Saturday Night Live” and joked that Dogecoin — a token he had previously promoted — was a “hustle,” denting its price. Days later he tweeted he was working with Doge developers to improve its transaction efficiency.
Bitcoin was already falling on Sunday when Musk replied “Indeed” to a tweet from @CryptoWhale suggesting Tesla get rid of its remaining Bitcoin holdings. His reply exacerbated the decline.
Some observers have cautioned that the cryptocurrency sector was ripe for a pullback anyway after giant gains over the past year. Bitcoin, for instance, is still sitting on a more than fourfold advance over the period. Ether, the second-largest token, is up more than 1,500% and Dogecoin over 19,000%.