The price of bitcoin plunged on Friday after Elon Musk appeared to mourn the end of his relationship with the cryptocurrency.
The CEO of Tesla tweeted a meme about a couple breaking up along with the hashtag bitcoin and a heartbroken emoji. The post included the lyrics to a song by rock band Linkin Park titled “In the end.”
The price of bitcoin fell about 6% to hit $ 35,814 at 8am (Miami time), according to CoinDesk. Other digital currencies followed, with ethereum falling 8% to $ 2,639 and dogecoin falling almost 13% to around 36 cents.
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History repeats itself
Musk recently told customers that the electric car giant would no longer accept bitcoin as payment for its vehicles due to concerns about the environmental impact of mining bitcoin, which is extremely energy intensive.
While he later appeared to soften his stance after speaking with bitcoin miners in North America, Musk’s most recent tweet suggests he won’t be back anytime soon.
Musk frequently causes big movements in cryptocurrency prices, often through obscure comments on social media. In December, Musk sent the price of dogecoin soaring almost 20% simply by tweeting: “One word: Doge.” He later said that his tweets about the cryptocurrency were intended as jokes.
Elon Musk says he will send dogecoin to the moonBitcoin, which accounts for more than 40% of the global crypto market, is coming off a difficult month. Prices plummeted about 36% in May, their worst monthly performance since September 2011.
A constant torrent of bad news, including steps by China to crack down on the digital currency, has sent bitcoin spiraling downward since it hit an all-time high above $ 64,000 in April.