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The 8.5% drop in Tesla’s share price on Monday – the sharpest one day fall since September – was partly fuelled by Musk tweeting that the prices of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies “do seem high”.

His comments came just two weeks after Tesla bought $1.5bn of bitcoin, which sent the price of the cryptocurrency to fresh highs.

Replying on Twitter to Peter Schiff, a stockbroker and gold investor, Musk said: “Money is just data that allows us to avoid the inconvenience of barter.

Musk had last week said Tesla’s decision to buy $1.5bn in bitcoin was a company decision not driven by him.

It said that since the decision was approved by its audit committee it had “invested an aggregate $1.5bn in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long term”.

Last month the price of bitcoin soared after Musk said that he was a supporter of the cryptocurrency in an interview carried on Clubhouse, a new social media app designed for wealthy people.