Elon Musk Tweet Dents Bitcoin, but Weekly Gain in Prospect

Bitcoin slipped more than 3 percent on Friday after Tesla boss Elon Musk fired off a tweet hinting at a breakup with the cryptocurrency, though it remains on course for its best weekly gain in about a month as it tries to recover from May's crash.

Bitcoin was last down about 3.6 percent at $37,809 (roughly Rs. 27.61 lakhs). Musk tweeted "#Bitcoin" and a heartbreak emoji above a meme appearing to show a couple discussing their breakup. Bitcoin is up 6.3 percent this week. As of 9:50am IST, Bitcoin price in India stood at over Rs. 27.7 lakhs.

Musk has been a major promoter of cryptocurrencies but has turned critical of Bitcoin since suspending Tesla plans to take it in payment for cars owing to concerns about its energy use.

Last month, Musk tweeted that Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for car purchases. He cited long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin fell more than 10 percent after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Prices of cryptocurrencies, including that of Ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade.

The use of Bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies.

Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way Bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels.

© Thomson Reuters 2021