Bitcoin still struggling after Musk’s Tesla U-turn

Bitcoin recovered about half of its losses on Thursday, a day after plunging 17% when Tesla boss Elon Musk said his company would stop accepting the digital tokens as payment for its cars.

The price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency rose back up to around $49,808 at 1150 GMT. On Wednesday it had dropped from around $54,819 to $45,700, its lowest since March 1, in just under two hours following Musk’s tweet.

Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, which had dropped 14% to a low of $3,550, rose above $4,000 before dipping back to around $3,750.

An announcement by Tesla on Feb. 8 that it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and that it would accept it as payment for its electric vehicles has been one factor behind its surging price this year.