Bitcoin fell about 10 percent on Monday after Elon Musk tweeted that prices “seem high.”
On Saturday, Musk -- who recently came out as a supporter of digital currencies -- responded to a user who said that gold was better than both Bitcoin and cash.
“Money is just data that allows us to avoid the inconvenience of barter,” he wrote on Twitter. “That data, like all data, is subject to latency & error. The system will evolve to that which minimizes both.”
“That said, BTC & ETH do seem high lol,” he added.
Volatile cryptocurrencies
By Monday morning, Bitcoin had dropped 10 percent to a price of $51,993, according to data from Coin Metrics. Analysts have pointed out that it’s not unusual to see fluctuations in the price of bitcoin.
“It’s worth pointing out that price swings of more than 10% aren’t a rarity in crypto,” CNBC said in a report. “Bitcoin once climbed to almost $20,000 in 2017 before shedding 80% of its value the following year.”
But if Musk’s statement did cause the drop, it wouldn’t be the first time the Tesla CEO has moved the market through a social media comment. Earlier this month, Musk confirmed that he’s a proponent of Bitcoin, saying on social media chat site Clubhouse: “I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin.”
The statement is believed to have contributed to raising the price of the cryptocurrency close to 20 percent. The digital coin is up more than 80 percent so far this year. Musk has said he believes it’s“on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people.”