Bitcoin slipped sharply on Thursday evening, tumbling by as much as 9% to just over $26,000.
The cryptocurrency last traded at $26,593.68, reflecting a decline of more than 8%, according to Coin Metrics data.
The fall in bitcoin followed several hours after The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX, which is helmed by Elon Musk, wrote down the value of its bitcoin holdings by a total of $373 million in 2022 and 2021, and that the space travel company had sold the virtual currency.
"This is one of the most brutal minute-by-minute selloffs we've seen in the history of bitcoin," Ryan Rasmussen, a researcher at Bitwise Asset Management, told CNBC.
In 2022, Tesla, which Musk also leads as CEO, announced that it sold about 75% of its bitcoin holdings after investing $1.5 billion in the flagship cryptocurrency.
Persons:
Bitcoin, Elon Musk, Ryan Rasmussen, Elon, Tesla, Musk
Organizations:
Street Journal, SpaceX, Bitwise Asset Management, CNBC
Locations:
bitcoin