Ethereum price shoots over $ 2,000 after Elon Musk revealed he personally invested in bitcoin rival

The price of Ethereum (Ether) skyrocketed after Elon Musk announced that he personally invested in the cryptocurrency.

The tech billionaire spoke at The ₿ Word conference on Wednesday alongside Twitter CEO and prominent crypto advocate Jack Dorsey.

“Bitcoin is doing some things well and is evolving … The ease of use for the average person isn’t great, but it has a lot of potential,” he said.

“All in all, I support Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general.”

>> Follow the latest crypto market updates The independents Live blog

Earlier this year, the Tesla boss made headlines after announcing his company would accept Bitcoin as payment for electric cars, but later withdrew after citing environmental concerns about the Bitcoin network.

The cryptocurrency has since shifted more towards renewable energy sources after China’s bitcoin mining operation, largely powered by coal-fired power plants, was cracked down on.

Tesla also announced a $ 1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin in February, making it the world’s second largest corporate investor after software company MicroStrategy.

A small portion of that was subsequently sold, but the majority is still held by Tesla despite the recent drop in prices.

After hitting an all-time high of over $ 64,000 in mid-April, Bitcoin price fell to around half of its high and is currently trading at just over $ 32,000.

Market movements have often been attributed to Mr Musk’s comments, with the price spike and crash coinciding with both Tesla’s adoption and rejection of the cryptocurrency.

Continue…