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The world of cryptocurrencies has seen better days, and traders took to social media to lament, and mock, the developments.
The news that China was banning its financial institutions from providing services through cryptocurrency sent shock waves through an already-reeling market, with bitcoin falling as low as $30,445 from $43,318 on Tuesday. On Twitter
TWTR,
the phrase cryptocrash trended, as did bitcoin, and “BTC and ETH,” the shorthand code for bitcoin and ethereum.
Over the last seven days, bitcoin
BTCUSD,
has lost a third of its value, ethereum
ETHUSD,
has dropped by 37%, and Binance Coin has dropped 44%, according to the CoinMarketCap site.
The first reaction, of course, was shock.
One social-media user suggested stocking up on instant soup.
Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla
TSLA,
who has a love/hate relationship with bitcoin, suggested the electric-vehicle maker is holding on to its bitcoin, using the emojis for diamonds and hands, which has come to mean a willingness to hold on to assets through volatility. Tesla last week announced it will stop allowing vehicle sales by bitcoin because of the environmental damage caused by mining.
The chief executive of business-intelligence company Microstrategy
MSTR,
another company that has acquired bitcoin, also said he wasn’t selling.
The flip side of bitcoin, and other cryptos, falling in value, is that fiat currency is worth more.
In practice, it isn’t easy to bet against crypto, though there are futures contracts one can short. The BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF
BITI,
listed in Canada, surged 14%.
Social-media users also mocked the idea that cryptocurrencies served as an inflation hedge.
The hackers that successfully acquired ransom crypto funds from Colonial Pipeline became poorer, if they haven’t sold already.
The true believers, of course, said there has never been a better time to buy.
