Elon Musk’s twitter antics continue to drive volatility in the cryptocurrency markets. Earlier in the week, the Tesla boss – once considered among the most passionate Bitcoin supporters – announced that the company would no longer be accepting Bitcoin as payment for its products.

The news caused massive volatility immediately with Bitcoin nosediving by $12k to a two-month low. Further tweets from Tesla’s CEO sent the digital asset south again with Twitter timelines turning especially sour over the weekend as Musk appeared to cool on Bitcoin in favour of the parody cryptocurrency, Dogecoin.

However, it was a hint that Tesla has sold, or plans to sell its Bitcoin that caused the most uproar. This morning, the crypto market briefly dipped below $2 trillion for the first time since late April, with Bitcoin dropping to $42k.

Musk has since confirmed that Tesla hasn't sold its holdings and Bitcoin has steadied slightly, changing hands at $45k at the time of writing. All eyes remain on the Twitter battlefield but it's increasingly starting to look like Bitcoin and Elon are treading down the same path as Bill and Melinda Gates, and Elon’s keeping the dog...

Before we dive into our weekly roundup of industry news, just an FYI there's some exciting Copper news coming out tomorrow, so keep your eyes peeled!

This week's top stories

Tesla stops taking Bitcoin for car purchases, citing 'great cost to the environment'

Tesla CEO Elon Musk posted a tweet Wednesday evening announcing that Tesla will suspend vehicle purchases using Bitcoin due to concerns over the environmental impact of the cryptocurrency. Musk has since continued his championship of Dogecoin the meme cryptoasset. Read more

Ether breaks $500bn market cap for the first time

Last week, Ethereum reached a market capitalisation of more than $500bn, making the cryptocurrency worth more than financial heavyweights like JPMorgan and Visa. Ether certainly appears to be closing the gap with Bitcoin, heading toward 20% of total cryptocurrency market cap. Read more

UBS explores offering crypto investments to rich clients

UBS is exploring “offering crypto investments to rich clients,” Bloomberg reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. According to the publication, the company is in the early stages of planning its offerings. BS joins a growing list of major investment banks that are either already offering or planning to offer crypto investments to their clients, including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Citigroup. Read more

In case you missed it..

⚡️Tether reveals a breakdown of its reserves for first time since 2014 launch.

⚡️$10bn hedge fund Balyasny exploring Bitcoin.

⚡️Steve Cohen's Point72 is poised to make a 'big' crypto market entrance.

⚡️Vitalik Buterin donates memecoins worth $1bn to help India fight COVID-19.

⚡️Bank of England official says Britcoin CBDC launch is 'probable'.

⚡️Peter Thiel, Alan Howard join $10bn funding round for Block.one's new crypto exchange subsidiary.

⚡️Coinbase reaches #1 on U.S. Apple App Store for first time since 2017.

⚡️Ebay allows sale of NFTs on platform.

⚡️Palantir now accepts Bitcoin payments.

⚡️Coinbase, SoftBank, Valor Capital back Brazilian crypto asset manager Hashdex.

⚡️MoneyGram to allow retail Bitcoin buying in the US.

⚡️MicroStrategy buys another $15m worth of Bitcoin at $55k.

⚡️Balancer V2 is live, promising lower fees and improved experience.

⚡️Ark Investment’s Cathie Wood joins board of 21Shares parent.

⚡️Cboe files proposal to list Fidelity Bitcoin ETF with SEC.

⚡️Dogecoin price jumps 30% after Coinbase says it will list token.

⚡️Indonesia considers capital gains tax on cryptocurrency trades.

⚡️Central Bank of Bahrain and JPMorgan to work on digital currency settlement pilot.

⚡️1inch Network increases liquidity sources by expanding to Polygon.

⚡️Microsoft quietly closing down Azure blockchain in September.

⚡️Cardano smashes $2 resistance.

⚡️Dogecoin developers say they've been working with Elon Musk since 2019.

⚡️Bitcoin mining operation Greenidge Generation plans to be carbon neutral next month.

From Copper

Is ETH the the new darling of institutional investors?

Bitcoin was once the undisputed king of the crypto world, accounting for more than 90% of the market at the start of 2017. Today, the original cryptocurrency is facing a massive challenge from Ethereum, the second largest digital asset. The gulf between the two cryptoassets – once vast and seemingly unbridgeable – is rapidly becoming narrower with a number of tailwinds working in Ethereum’s favour. In this latest article, our Head of Research Fadi Aboualfa discusses some of the factors driving increased institutional adoption of ETH. Read more

Webinar, Wednesday 19 May 2021: The Future of Banking

This Wednesday at 12pm ET (5pm BST) join The Block’s Senior Correspondent Ryan Weeks for a look at the future of banking, featuring our CEO Dmitry Tokarev, Keith Grose of Plaud, and Shachar Bialick of Curve. Register here to attend