Bitcoin slips below $38,000 as it struggles to retrace losses despite efforts from Musk and Saylor to buoy confidence

• Bitcoin struggled to hold onto Monday gains, slipping back below the $38,000-level Tuesday.
• The cryptocurrency fell despite Elon Musk tweeting that he'd had discussions with bitcoin miners on Monday about energy efficiency.
• Bitcoin was trading at $37,088 as of 9:17 a.m. ET Tuesday.

Bitcoin struggled to hold ontop gains made on Monday, slipping back below the $38,000-level Tuesday despite tweets Tesla chief Elon Musk about having discussions with bitcoin miners on ways to lessen the cryptocurrency's environmental impact.

The world's largest cryptocurrency popped nearly to $40,000 following that tweet Monday but slipped 7% to $37,088 as of 9:17 a.m. ET Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin could find initial support around the $36,000-level, said Pankaj Balani, CEO at Delta Exchange. A break below that, he said, could signal a correction that is bigger than a short-term pull-back.

-Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2021

Following Musk's announcement, MicroStrategy founder and CEO Michael Saylor also tweeted that he had formed a Bitcoin Mining Council with industry leaders "to promote energy usage transparency & accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide."

These leaders include Blockcap, Hut 8, Marathon Digital Holdings, and Riot Blockchain.

-Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) May 24, 2021

Energy used by bitcoin mining operations is under heightened scrutiny, thanks in part to Musk's abrupt reversal on May 12 when he announced that Tesla is suspending the purchase of vehicles using bitcoin due to environmental concerns.

The price of the cryptocurrency nosedived immediately after, along with a broader cryptocurrency crash that wiped out 47% of the market cap for global digital currencies in just one week.

The Treasury Departments' decision on May 20 to have any cryptocurrency transfers of at least $10,000 be reported and China's reiteration on May 21 that it will restrict mining and trading activities accelerated bitcoin's plunge.

Bitcoin's excessive energy use and climate change impact have long been criticized, with experts repeatedly warning about the "staggering" amount of energy required to mine the digital currency.

Yet others, such as Cathie Wood's Ark Invest said these energy consumption concerns are "misguided." Ark clarified that it believes bitcoin can accelerate a green-energy revolution and become "a net positive for the environment."

Bitcoin is 42% lower from its all-time high of $64,107 in April.