Bitcoin recoups some losses after Elon Musk-triggered tumble

Bitcoin popped back above $50,000 in Asian trade on Thursday, clawing back some of the 17% plunge that followed Elon Musk’s tweet that Tesla Inc would stop accepting the digital tokens as payment for its cars.

The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped from around $54,819 to $45,700, its lowest since March 1, in just under two hours following the tweet shortly after 2200 GMT. It recovered about half of that drop early in the Asian session, and last traded about $51,099.

Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, followed a similar pattern, dropping 14% to touch a low of $3,550, before bouncing back above $4,000.