Elon Musk fuels Bitcoin volatility by saying Tesla hasn't sold stake

For a second week, the crypto market is being ruled by tweets from billionaire Elon Musk.

The Tesla Inc chief sent Bitcoin rallying back above $45,000 on Monday after clarifying that the company hasn’t sold any holdings of the digital token. It’s the latest post to whipsaw prices across the industry and fuel speculation over just why the electric-car pioneer is issuing crypto missives on a daily basis on Twitter.

“He has to wake up to the reality that with his following, even single-worded tweets can move markets,” said Antoni Trenchev, managing partner and co-founder of Nexo in London, a crypto lender.

The drama started on Sunday after Musk sent a tweet that raised questions about whether Tesla might have already sold its stake. A user by the name of @CryptoWhale had speculated that Tesla had already sold its holdings, saying “With the amount of hate @elonmusk is getting, I wouldn’t blame him.” Musk responded to that tweet with a one-word post saying “Indeed.”

It was enough to shake the conviction of traders and Bitcoin sank 10 per cent the weekend, hitting a fresh three-month low. Prices steadied on Monday, trading up 3 per cent at $45,436 as of 11:12 a.m. in London. Musk’s involvement in crypto has been a major driver of the bull market this year, and the Tesla’s disclosure of a $1.5 billion stake brought legitimacy to virtual currencies. In April, Tesla’s earnings report showed the company had sold 10% of its Bitcoin holdings. Musk said on Twitter that Tesla was trying “to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.”