Musk Says Telsa To Accept Bitcoin Again When Miners Use More Clean Energy

Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted that the company will return to accepting bitcoin as payment when the cryptocurrency’s miners use more clean, environmentally friendly energy. The crypto-enthusiast and environmentalist has seen his core passions collide with one another.

“When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions,” he said on Twitter. According to Reuters, bitcoin rallied over 9% after the post.

CNBC said the billionaire was responding to pointed remarks from Magda Wierzycka, the CEO of South African asset manager Sygnia, who accused him of manipulating the price of bitcoin. Previously, Tesla bought US$1.5 billion (~RM6.2 billion) worth of bitcoin and later said it would accept the digital currency as payment for cars.

That policy was abruptly reversed last month with Musk declaring that the push for cryptocurrency “cannot come at great cost to the environment.” To be fair to the billionaire, even then, he maintained that Tesla will accept bitcoin transactions again when miners transition to “more sustainable energy.”

Of course, that statement as well as his latest one raise more questions than answers. Given the tremendous power demands of bitcoin mining, is that transition to cleaner energy even possible? Wouldn’t that require national-level, government-driven efforts to move away from ‘dirty’ energy sources like coal? Why seemingly put the onus on miners and how long would that transition take?

Finally, the billionaire-dollar question: Can enthusiasm for bitcoin be sustained until then?

Elon Musk’s Tesla Reverses Decision To Accept Vehicle Purchases By Bitcoin

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced by tweet that the company will not be accepting payment for its vehicles by bitcoin (at least for now), reversing a high-profile company policy announced in March.

Musk, a prominent crypocurrency enthusiast, further tweeted, “To be clear, I strongly believe in crypto, but it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal.” Bitcoin mining has often been criticised for its staggeringly high energy costs, which in turn generate more carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.

Musk himself tweeted a chart of bitcoin’s electricity consumption:

Many have highlighted the billionaire entrepreneur’s apparently contradictory support for both environmental causes and cryptocurrency. One recent study warned that the immense scale of bitcoin mining in China could cause the country to miss its carbon emission reduction goals.

As of April last year, over 70% of the world’s bitcoin mining took place in China. While the country boasts cheaper electricity rates, it’s also known to be reliant on coal power.

Despite warnings about bitcoin’s impact on the environment, Tesla went ahead and bought US$1.5 billion (~RM6.2 billion) worth of bitcoin in February. The following month, it announced it would begin accepting payment for cars made with bitcoin. It’s unclear why Musk (and Tesla management in general) changed their minds now.

Tesla said that it would use bitcoin for transactions “as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.” Earlier this week, Musk celebrated SpaceX’s involvement in a mission to the moon that is fully funded with dogecoin, another cryptocurrency.