Elon Musk got holders of Bitcoin (BTC -0.58%) going again after suggesting Tesla (TSLA 0.43%) could start accepting the cryptocurrency again, sending the coin's value jumping to just under $40,000.

The bigger news, though, might actually be that Tesla has sold some of its Bitcoin stockpile just weeks after Musk said Tesla hadn't sold any (and that Tesla would not use Bitcoin over environmental concerns). Musk, though, admitted the electric vehicle (EV) maker sold about 10% of its stash, but only to test the market's liquidity without moving its price.

Bitcoin on a motherboard

Image source: Getty Images.

You'll get whiplash trying to invest based on the tweets of the billionaire entrepreneur. In March, Musk sent Bitcoin's price soaring when he said that Tesla would accept Bitcoin as payment and that the EV maker had amassed $1.2 billion worth of the crypto last quarter to help facilitate transactions. 

Things went sideways in May, though, when Musk backtracked on the pronouncement, saying that because Bitcoin miners use a tremendous amount of energy to extract a single coin, Tesla would stop using it as a medium for transactions until mining could be done sustainably.

He also sent Bitcoin's value tumbling when he seemed to suggest Tesla had sold its Bitcoin holdings, and Musk was forced to clarify that the EV maker had not sold any.

Yet in a response to a tweet on Sunday criticizing Musk for his ability to manipulate Bitcoin's value and that Tesla had sold off a large portion of its crypto portfolio, Musk responded it was only approximately 10% that was sold, and that was to see if Tesla could sell the coin without moving the market.

Although that seems to suggest Tesla might just be looking to sell more, Bitcoin traders hung on his words that when Bitcoin is being mined 50% or more using clean energy, Tesla will accept the crypto again, sending prices higher.