Bitcoin soars by $5K in minutes — BTC hits $38K after Elon Musk's 'Dogecoin treatment'
Bitcoin (BTC) surged by over $5,000 in minutes on Jan. 29 after the world's richest man added its symbol to his Twitter page.
BTC price hits $38K highs
Data from Cointelegraph Markets and Tradingview showed BTC/USD spiking to $38,000 as users began to notice that Elon Musk was now publicly advertising Bitcoin.
The move comes amid major anticipation from investors that BTC will be the next asset to receive a boost, either from a figure like Musk or from lay consumers affiliated with the now notorious Reddit group r/Wallstreetbets.
As Cointelegraph reported, Musk had previously singlehandedly pumped the price of several cryptoassets notably meme-based Dogecoin (DOGE), with just one or a handful of tweets.
DOGE, along with stocks GameSpot and AMC, meanwhile all surged thanks to Reddit this month, with the ensuing regulatory retaliation causing uproar and increasing cryptocurrency's reputation as an independent investment.
"This should be your wake up call to get your #Bitcoin off exchanges," popular Twitter account Documenting Bitcoin summarized as $GME trading was shut down.
Musk leaves Twitter still speculating
For Musk, who at one time had "former Dogecoin CEO" in his bio, no explanation of the move towards Bitcoin had been made public at the time of writing, with only a characteristically cryptic tweet coming afterward.
"In retrospect, it was inevitable," he wrote.
Musk has a chequered history when it comes to Bitcoin, with previous tweets making it impossible to tell if he owned or even liked the largest cryptocurrency.
On Friday, however, BTC/USD had yet to match $GME or others, reversing at $37,000 to trade slightly lower and still within an established corridor. As proponents noticed his update, messages of support came rolling in fast.
"Got em," Robert Breedlove, author of "Thank God for Bitcoin," responded.
Abra CEO Bill Barhydt added:
"Elon has discovered interplanetary money. Buckle up."