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- Cryptic social-media behavior from Elon Musk suggesting Tesla may have dumped its bitcoin holdings pushed lower stocks linked to the cryptocurrency.
- Musk later clarified however that he has not sold any.
- Bitcoin has rebounded after its lowest plunge since February but is still in negative territory.
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Companies exposed to bitcoin slid on Monday in the wake of the cryptocurrency plunging to its lowest level since February after Elon Musk suggested Tesla might have sold its holdings over the weekend.
Bitcoin tumbled to $42,185 on Monday morning, several hours after Musk replied "Indeed" to a Twitter post saying: "Bitcoiners are going to slap themselves next quarter when they find out Tesla dumped the rest of their #Bitcoin holdings."
The price of the cryptocurrency climbed somewhat when the billionaire clarified that Tesla still holds its stake.
Bitcoin traded lower by 7.9% to $45,064.723 as of 10 a.m. in New York.
Here is where shares of bitcoin-linked stocks stood on Monday morning:
- MicroStrategy: down 5.1% to $494.16
- Coinbase: down 6.4% to $241.95
- Square: down 1.7% to $204.23
- Riot Blockchain: down 10.7% to $23.24
- Marathon Digital Holdings: down 8.8% to $21.06
Elon Musk's May 13 reversal on allowing Tesla to accept bitcoin as payment sent shockwaves across the digital asset ecosystem.
Wedbush's Dan Ives in a note said the move was "very surprising and confusing," not only to cryptocurrency enthusiasts but to Tesla shareholders as well.
Musk's Twitter announcement saying Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin just came three months after the company invested billions in the cryptocurrency and accept it as payment for its electric cars.