<Anchor> The
price of bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, fell sharply today (17th). Tesla's CEO Elon Musk said that the market shook again. Musk made a statement today that it seemed that Tesla had disposed of all the bitcoins that Tesla had, but a few hours later, as the controversy grew, he posted another article denying it.
This is New York, correspondent Kim Jong-won.
<Reporter>
"If bitcoin investors find out that Tesla has sold out all the bitcoins held by Tesla, they will hit themselves."
A bitcoin investor posted on Twitter.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk commented with just one word.
It is a comment that is interpreted as'so', meaning'indeed', really.
The bitcoin market was immediately shocked, with the interpretation that CNBC and others had sold all of Tesla's bitcoins or implied that they could sell them in the future.
[Bloomberg Broadcast: (Over the bitcoin controversy) Musk is living with people, but today a single tweet may imply that Tesla is going to sell its
bitcoins
.]
Musk last week's Tesla car's bits Although he announced that he would abruptly stop the coin payment, he emphasized that he would not sell the bitcoins held by Tesla, because according to this interpretation, he changed his position 180 degrees.
After Musk's tweet, the price of Bitcoin once plunged by over 8%.
As the controversy grew, Musk tweeted about 10 hours later denying the sale of Bitcoin.
In one tweet, he replied, "Tesla didn't sell Bitcoin at all."
There is growing criticism that Musk, who has a huge influence on the bitcoin market, controls the price with a single word on Twitter as an act that is more like a crime than inappropriate treatment.
(Video coverage: Lee Sang-wook, video editing: Jeon Min-gyu)
▶ Bitcoin fell 40% in a month... Concerns about a plunge due to strengthening regulations