Crypto and stock markets alike saw a jump Wednesday morning following a report that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will depart his current role as a close ally to President Donald Trump.
Bitcoin rapidly spiked to $87,300 for the first time since March 27, while major stock market indices like the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both bounced into the green for the day following the publication of Politico‘s report, which cites three sources close to Trump who asked not to be named.
Tesla (TSLA)—one of the world’s biggest publicly traded Bitcoin reserve holders—saw a surge following the report, rebounding following Wednesday’s release of a brutal quarterly report showing falling demand and production for Musk’s electric car maker.
TSLA jumped above $280 following the report, but has settled to about $275 as of this writing, up nearly 3% on the day. The stock has been battered in recent months, falling from a peak above $480 set in December as Musk’s political moves have proven controversial.
Bitcoin has since cooled to about $86,770 as of this writing, but remains up by nearly 2% on the day.
According to the report, Trump has told his inner circle and members of his cabinet that Musk “will be stepping back in the coming weeks” from his prominent role as a close Trump advisor. Musk is unlikely to disappear entirely from Trump’s administration, the report claims, but his departure may be timed with the end of his status as a “special government employee” in the coming weeks.
Per the report, there’s concern among Trump advisors that Musk is starting to become a political liability for Trump.
The report comes following a Republican loss in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court judge election on Tuesday—a race in which Musk personally spent $20 million to support Trump’s favored candidate, Brad Schimel. But Schimel was handily defeated by the Democrat-backed Susan Crawford, who won by 10%.
Both Musk and Trump have publicly hinted in recent days that the Tesla head’s time in government could be ending.
Musk is the figurehead of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, a government cost-cutting initiative that had led to mass layoffs at various agencies—and plenty of court challenges about DOGE’s authority. While Musk was announced to head DOGE, the White House has since clarified that is officially a “senior advisor to the president.”
DOGE is indeed apparently inspired by Dogecoin (DOGE), Musk’s longtime favorite cryptocurrency, with the meme logo briefly appearing on the government website in January. Trump also sells a t-shirt featuring himself, Musk, and the coin’s familiar Shiba Inu meme mascot.
