Prices for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped higher after Elon Musk tweeted that he owns the digital tokens and isn’t planning to sell them anytime soon.
Bitcoin, which had fallen as much as 3% before Musk’s tweet, briefly erased losses before pulling back again. Ethereum was up as much as 2.3% before giving up some gains. Dogecoin’s 3.8% gain was the biggest among cryptocurrencies.
Musk, the chief executive of electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) and the world’s richest person, is no stranger to social-media posts about cryptocurrencies. Last May, he said won’t sell any Dogecoin, a token created in 2013 as a joke and for which he’d become a public advocate.
This time, Musk posted a question on Twitter about the likely rate of inflation over the next few years. Michael Saylor, the chief executive officer of MicroStrategy (MSTR) and a Bitcoin bull, replied: “Weaker currencies will collapse, and the flight of capital from cash, debt, & value stocks to scarce property like #bitcoin will intensify.”
“It is not entirely unpredictable that you would reach that conclusion,” Musk retorted. MicroStrategy took a $147 million U.S. impairment charge for the fourth quarter as Bitcoin’s price drop forced the company to write down its holding.
