- World's richest man's endorsement of cryptocurrency sends it higher
- Latest example of social media's power to move markets
Bitcoin surged this morning as Elon Musk changed his Twitter bio to say simply #Bitcoin, later posting ‘In retrospect, it was inevitable’. Prices leapt from around $32,400 to touch on $38,000 in under an hour following the update, before retracing to trade around $36,500. We have seen this week the power of social media to drive markets, with the Reddit situation in full public glare. Elon Musk was involved there too, tweeting ‘Gametonk!!’ and a link to the /wallstreetbets Reddit, fuelling a surge in the GME share price after hours.
It’s not quite apparent what the material difference between Elon Musk – admittedly the world’s richest man – having Bitcoin in his Twitter bio and not having it there really is. Does this mean he’s buying? Or does he simply think it’s a good thing. We should note that Musk’s record on Twitter with Tesla shares (‘funding secured’) is chequered. Clearly the move is being cheered by the Bitcoin bulls.
It clearly indicates support for the crypto in some form, but I don’t think this particularly comes as a surprise. It does indicate that markets are in a febrile mood and trading around some of the ‘hot’ securities, whether it’s Bitcoin or GME, is risky. Assets that can be moved this easily by social media, whether Twitter or Reddit, are liable for large intra-day moves and subsequently could be too hot to handle for many. It’s getting wild out there.
Neil Wilson is chief markets analyst at Markets.com
