researchers led by Stevens Institute of Technology show that Bitcoin's value can be manipulated by public sentiment, verifying, for the first time, that social media and Bitcoin prices are linked—but not without a surprise...
Comments and tweets from very active users did not move Bitcoin's price much at all. Rather, the silent majority—infrequent users who took the time to comment on the cryptocurrency's prospects—moved prices more, as much as ten times more, when they posted positive comments.
"This was the first robust statistical finding to verify that social media and Bitcoin prices are actually linked," Mai says...
"Vocal users of social media may sometimes have a certain agenda, in this case hyping or boosting the price of Bitcoin because they themselves have invested in it," says Mai... "Bitcoin investors recognize these potential conflicts of interest and discount them."