Crypto Decoded
Crypto Decoded

Elon Musk tweets 'diamond hands' emoji amid bitcoin drop, implying Tesla won't sell

Key Points
  • In a tweet Wednesday morning, Musk said that Tesla had "diamond hands," implying that the electric vehicle maker would not be shedding its $1.5 billion stake in bitcoin.
  • The world's most popular cryptocurrency plunged as much as 30% on Wednesday to just above $30,000, its lowest level since late January, according to Coin Metrics.

In this article

Elon Musk
Mark Ralston | AFP | Getty Images

Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesn't appear to be shying away from bitcoin, despite the crypto-wide sell-off, which cut the value of bitcoin in half at one point over the last 24 hours.

In a tweet Wednesday morning, through a combination of text and emojis, Musk said that Tesla had "diamond hands," implying that the electric vehicle maker would not be shedding its $1.5 billion stake in bitcoin.

The world's most popular cryptocurrency plunged as much as 30% on Wednesday to just above $30,000, its lowest level since late January, according to Coin Metrics. That means bitcoin has now erased all its gains following Tesla's announcement that it would purchase $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.

Musk's messaging on Tesla's bitcoin position has been mixed.

On May 12, he said Tesla had suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin, citing environmental concerns over the mining process. After that, $300 billion was wiped off the entire cryptocurrency market over the same day.

Musk also suggested on Twitter over the weekend that Tesla might sell its bitcoin holdings, but later clarified that the company would not sell.

Tesla itself is part of a broader tech sell-off, down about 4% so far Wednesday. Microstrategy, another company that holds a large amount of bitcoin for its corporate treasury, is down by more than 7%.

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