Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate without a central bank to regulate their value, keeping pace with supply and demand. However, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor have influenced that market with their posts on Twitter.
For years, trends and events on Twitter have had an impact on cryptocurrency prices. Saylor’s 1.3 million followers and Musk’s 57.6 million followers show that their tweets have a large audience.
When the owner of Tesla added the word “Bitcoin” to his Twitter bio, the price jumped by more than 20% in a matter of hours. Provider of information services on crypto assets The TIE and trading platform eToro released a report. That study analyzes how Elon Musk and Michael Saylor’s tweets influence the price of Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
Elon Musk’s Influence on the Price of Bitcoin
The analysis indicates that most of Elon Musk’s tweets in recent months have caused the price of Bitcoin to drop from USD 60,000 to USD 40,000. There has been a positive impact on investor trust (23.5%) and the volume of tweets (44.4%). However, Elon Musk’s posts have impacted the value of the cryptocurrency by around -1.6% daily.
Musk’s influence began when he announced that Tesla would start accepting Bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles. The price of the cryptocurrency immediately increased, yielding a maximum return of 4.3% in 7 hours. According to the study, investor sentiment turned increasingly positive, rising by around 87%.
That situation changed when Tesla suspended payments with Bitcoin after Musk criticized the use of energy by miners. That tweet led the price of Bitcoin to drop by 13% in a matter of hours. At the same time, investor sentiment declined from 43% to 21% in 24 hours.
In a more recent tweet, the entrepreneur announced that Tesla would resume accepting payments with Bitcoin. He said that the condition for this would be that miners use 50% clean energy, which positively impacted the market. While investor sentiment remained positive, the price of the crypto asset rose by 5%.
Incidence of Michael Saylor’s Posts on Bitcoin
The report also reviews MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor’s Twitter posts. It notes that most of the executive’s tweets occurred when the price of Bitcoin went from USD 11,000 to USD 60,000. In his usually positive messages, he has announced new purchases of the crypto asset by MicroStrategy or has promoted it.
Following Michael Saylor’s tweets, Bitcoin has shown a return of about 2.2% over 24 hours. The study also notes that such posts often affect investor sentiment positively.
One of the tweets was about the meeting of both entrepreneurs with Bitcoin miners to discuss the use of green energy. While investor sentiment dropped, the price of the crypto asset fell by about 13%. That happened due to a Mining Council that the tycoons led but that the bitcoiners did not welcome.
Data from the report suggests that influencers in the cryptocurrency market have taken advantage of these lucrative opportunities. Even hacker group Anonymous has stated that Elon Musk manipulates that market, highlighting that he has destroyed lives.
By Alexander Salazar
