Bitcoin dropped to a three-month low on Monday as investors sold cryptocurrencies in the wake of Tesla boss Elon Musk's hinting over the weekend that the carmaker is considering or may have already sold some of its bitcoin holdings, Reuters reports. 

Musk has boosted crypto markets with his enthusiasm for the asset class, but has lately roiled trade by appearing to cool on bitcoin in favour of its one-time parody, dogecoin. The gyrations are beginning to spook even steeled traders.

"This has gone from clear FOMO (fear of missing out) to fear of not getting out, and you’re seeing a lot of people dumping," said Chris Weston of brokerage Pepperstone in Melbourne, adding that he was looking at the 200-day moving average just below $40,000 as the next key test for bitcoin.

"Why would I want to buy bitcoin right now -- even if I’m bullish -- until the liquidation is over and you see some consolidation in price?"

Bitcoin fell more than 9% on Monday to as low as $42,185, its lowest since Feb. 8, while ether, linked to the ethereum blockhain, fell even more to as low as $3,123.94. Dogecoin fell nearly 7% to $0.48, and all three are well under recent records.

On Wednesday, Musk said Tesla would stop taking bitcoin as payment, owing to environmental concerns about energy use to process transactions. Defending that decision on Sunday, he suggested Tesla may have sold its own holdings.

News.Az