Bitcoin fell Sunday after Musk’s vague response to a charge that Tesla has, or could, dump its bitcoin.

Bitcoin enthusiasts and investors will be relieved to learn that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has not sold its stash of bitcoins. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet early this morning: “To clarify speculation, Tesla has not sold any Bitcoin.” Musk had played a not insignificant role in bitcoin’s rally in recent months when he announced Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment in the leading cryptocurrency. He later also said that the carmaker would accept bitcoin for its cars. (CNBC)

Musk distances himself from bitcoin

However, last week, Musk retracted the EV-maker’s offer to accept bitcoins for its cars.

“Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin,” Musk posted on Twitter (NYSE: TWTR). “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel. Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” he said.

The above tweet sent bitcoin crashing to below $48,000 from levels of about $54,700.

Musk did more damage on Sunday. In response to a tweet from a Twitter user warning bitcoiners that they would find out next quarter Tesla had dumped the rest of its holdings, Musk replied with just a vague “Indeed.”

The fact that Musk did not outright deny the charge seemed to have unnerved the bitcoin market, which fell below $43,000 after the Twitter exchange.

Tesla still invested in bitcoin

Today’s tweet from Musk implying that Tesla’s bitcoin holdings remained intact stabilized the cryptocurrency.

At the time of writing bitcoin is trading at $45,259, well above its Sunday low.

In a filing end-April, the electric vehicle maker disclosed that its bitcoin investment was worth $2.5 billion, even after a token sale. “I have not sold any of my bitcoin,” Musk tweeted at the time, adding that “Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.”

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