Bitcoin, the world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency is up 77.9% from the year’s low of $27,734 on Jan. 4, and down 24% from the year’s high of $64,895.22 hit on April 14.
Ether, the coin linked to the ethereum blockchain network, rose 6.1 % to $3,868.42 by 0800 GMT on Sunday, adding $222.41 to its previous close.
Bitcoin rates slumped last week after Tesla Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk doubled down on his attack on the token’s energy demands.
The turnaround by one of crypto’s loudest believers took investors by surprise and sent prices tumbling across the board, including a plunge in Bitcoin to about $46,000.
Musk signaled on Wednesday that Tesla might accept other cryptocurrencies if they are less energy intensive, and said the company won’t sell any of its Bitcoin. In more recent posts he said he’s working with Dogecoin developers to improve “system transaction efficiency,” describing the effort as “potentially promising.”
Tesla disclosure in February of a $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, and the plan to accept it as a form of payment, were major catalysts in the crypto bull market. In the eyes of analysts, it helped add legitimacy to the token and usher in new investors.
Musk’s crypto tweets have often been in jest, and his attention toward Dogecoin brought the joke token into the mainstream. He’s quipped about being the “Dogefather” in the past, and tweeted on Tuesday, “Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?”
But his Twitter posts can be a problem for many investors because they tend to push around stock and crypto prices.
