Over the past day, the Bitcoin rate has literally dropped to the January level. Before this, the value of the well-known cryptocurrency skyrocketed after Elon Musk announced its purchase by his company on February 8 and announced the acceptance of Bitcoin as a means of payment for Tesla electric vehicles. He also had a hand in the collapse of the course.
Now the value of the cryptocurrency has dropped by about 40% from a record $ 65,000 per “coin” to about $ 39,000. This level was last recorded before the electric car manufacturer announced its investments in “digital cash.”
Elon Musk himself added fuel to the panic when he unexpectedly announced last week that his company would no longer accept bitcoins as payment for Tesla. Predictions have become even gloomier after Bitcoin plunged 15% over the weekend following Musk’s criticism of the environmental impact of the cryptocurrency mining and circulation ecosystem.
Finally, the People’s Bank of China struck the final nail by reiterating that digital “tokens” cannot be used as a means of payment, helping to push Bitcoin back down to the level of currency before February 8th.
“These huge swings that we’ve seen in the cryptocurrency market really highlight its speculative nature as an asset,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index. “ We have Elon Musk driving the cryptocurrency trading world and not the first time creating problems, and I don’t think this will be the last time. ”
In turn, Musk, with his posts on Twitter, creating multi-billion dollar fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market, has become a kind of “puppeteer” who controls the mood of millions. Many believe that the February rise in the Bitcoin exchange rate is largely due to its decision to accept them as payment for cars. At that time, such a decision was called an important turning point for the crypto sector of the economy – people saw in this another step in the evolution of digital assets.
Later, all the businessman’s statements were disavowed by him after he criticized the “insane” energy consumption on the cryptocurrency ecosystem and refused to sell Tesla for them. At the same time, Musk denied rumors that the company had sold off the relevant assets, forcing the “investors” to lose their “sense of direction completely.”