Bitcoin's value can be manipulated by public sentiment, say scientists who found that positive comments by infrequent social media users were more likely to move the cryptocurrency's prospects. In the past four years, the value of a single bitcoin has soared from about USD 500 in 2014 to a current value of USD 6,000 and has worked its way into every type of financial transaction, from buying phone credits to shopping for clothes online. Researchers from Stevens Institute of Technology in the US show that Bitcoin's value can be manipulated by public sentiment, verifying, for the first time, that social media and Bitcoin prices are linked. The study shows that periods of increasingly positive social media commentary do significantly influence the rising price of Bitcoin. However, it is the silent majority, not the vocal minority, that who moves these prices, researchers found.
