Bitcoin steadied after Elon Musk said Tesla hasn’t sold from its holdings of the token, clarifying earlier comments that seemed to imply the electric vehicle maker may sell or has sold its stake. Tesla CEO Musk spent the past couple of days duelling on Twitter with critics of his move to suspend acceptance of Bitcoin payments on environmental concerns. 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. 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. Bitcoin was already falling on Sunday when Musk replied “Indeed” to a tweet from @CryptoWhale suggesting Tesla get rid of its remaining Bitcoin holdings.

Source: The Irish Times May 17, 2021 09:45 UTC