Bitcoin, Other Cryptocurrencies Decline as Elon Musk Pulls the Plug

Elon Musk’s owned Tesla made a sudden U-turn on Wednesday to stop accepting Bitcoin for payment of its vehicles, citing rising use of fossil fuels in Bitcoin mining and transactions.

A situation that could have a negative effect on the environment, stated the Chief Executive Officer, Tesla Inc., Elon Musk.

Elon Musk had earlier asked if his over 54 million followers, which comprises of a huge number of cryptocurrency lovers, want Tesla to accept Dogecoin, a meme coin that has risen to global prominence on Musk’s support.

Over 78 percent responded positively to the poll on May 11 before Musk announced on Wednesday the decision of Tesla Inc to stop accepting Bitcoin.

Millions of Dogecoin investors and traders are now predicting that Elon Musk is likely to announce Dogecoin as a replacement for Bitcoin going by his latest tweet below.

Bitcoin plunged by over 17 percent from $54,800 to as low as $46,294 per coin before rebounding to $51.119.16 as at the time of writing.

Ethereum, XRP and Dogecoin also pared losses to 7.26 percent, 7.82 percent and 10.90 percent, respectively.

Musk, in a tweet, said Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin.