Mike Blake/Reuters
- 63% respondents surveyed by Investing.com said Elon Musk is the most influential personality in financial markets.
- Half of investors say they would support policies to dial back the influence individuals like Musk have.
- Some investors surveyed said they sold bitcoin after Musk tweeted negatively about its energy use.
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A small survey reveals that nearly two-thirds of US investors consider Elon Musk to have a large sway on financial markets.
In a June survey of 1,103 conducted online by Investing.com, 63% of respondents said the Tesla CEO is the most influential personality when it comes to financial markets. Meanwhile, 52% of investors expressed support for policies that would reduce the power of large influencers like Musk when it comes to manipulating financial markets.
Recently Musk has had a notable impact on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although it's hard to pinpoint the reasons behind crypto movements, bitcoin often moves when Elon Musk tweets about it.
According to the survey, the billionaire's tweets about bitcoin's environmental impact prompted some investors to sell their coins.
38% of investors surveyed said they weren't concerned about bitcoin's environmental impact until Elon Musk tweeted about it. Meanwhile, 30% of those surveyed who were bitcoin investors sold bitcoin last month, with 20% attributing their sale to Musk's comment on the environment.
However, 84% disagreed with the statement that the future of bitcoin hinges on Musk.
Investors also seemed largely split on how seriously to take Musk's tweets. 33% consider his cryptocurrency tweets "annoying," 27% deemed them "entertaining," and 22% described them as "unfair," while 28% said they're indifferent on the matter. Respondents were able to select multiple answers for the question.