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Elon Musk: Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin

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  • Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin as payment, according to CEO Elon Musk.
  • Musk made the reversal about three months after announcing that Tesla will be accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.
  • Musk explained that bitcoin has been “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions,” which has a significant environmental impact.

Elon Musk has announced Tesla’s withdrawal of accepting bitcoin as payment for vehicle purchases, citing the cryptocurrency’s worrying impact on the environment.

The Tesla CEO explained on Wednesday via Twitter: “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

Musk also shared a chart illustrating the cryptocurrency’s “insane” energy usage trend across recent months, based on data from the University of Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.

It has only been three months since Tesla announced that bitcoin would be accepted as payment. At the time, the company also purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.

According to Musk’s statement, the company will not be selling any of its bitcoin and will instead “use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.” He added that the company is “also looking at other cryptocurrencies” that use less energy per transaction.

Several critics have pointed out the massive use of energy by bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which rely heavily on computing power to oversee their networks and digital assets. Environmentalists pointed out that cryptocurrencies have been significantly contributing to carbon emissions now that they have gained worldwide attention.

The electric vehicles and energy infrastructure of Tesla have been touted by Musk as a major step forward to reduce carbon emissions.

Musk has also been known to strongly support cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin and dogecoin, which have significantly risen in value in the past years. The “Technoking of Tesla,” also well-known for his outlandish behavior, has rarely given in to public pressure despite facing backlash. This is why a lot of questions arose regarding his reversal.

Musk’s announcement may have caused a significant drop in the value of bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s value dropped from about $54,700 per coin to as low as $46,000, before it slightly increased again.

Source: NBC News

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