Bitcoin Price Slides Further After Elon Musk Tweets

Elon Musk recently said Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin for car purchases.

By Reuters | Updated: 17 May 2021 10:44 IST

Bitcoin Price Slides Further After Elon Musk Tweets

Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against to solve complex mathematical puzzles

Highlights

On May 12, Musk said Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin for car purchase
Musk's decision was well-received by some of Tesla's investors
Elon Musk agreed that he faced criticism from public

The price of Bitcoin traded below $45,000 (roughly Rs. 33 lakhs) on Sunday after a tweet by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrency, suggested Tesla may be considering or may have sold off its bitcoin holdings.

Musk's tweet was in response to an unverified Twitter account called @CryptoWhale, which said, "Bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #Bitcoin holdings. With the amount of hate @elonmusk is getting, I wouldn't blame him…".

Bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #Bitcoin holdings.

With the amount of hate @elonmusk is getting, I wouldn't blame him…
— Mr. Whale (@CryptoWhale) May 16, 2021

Musk replied "indeed" without specifying whether Tesla had sold off its Bitcoin (price in India) holdings or that he simply agreed with the sentiment that he faced criticism.

On May 12, Musk said Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin for car purchases, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

The Tesla boss' tweets, which had helped drive some of the gains in Bitcoin in recent months, last week triggered a 17 percent slide in the value of the cryptocurrency when he said his company's customers would no longer be able to use Bitcoin to buy its cars.

Musk's decision to stop accepting Bitcoin as payment over environmental concerns has been well-received by some of Tesla's investors, offering a warning to corporate peers mulling a dabble with the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process.

More than half a dozen investors in the electric vehicle maker contacted by Reuters said they were happy with Musk's decision on Bitcoin.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

What is the best phone under Rs. 30,000 in India right now? We discussed this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Cryptocurrency Prices across Indian exchanges

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.