Tesla Stops Accepting Bitcoin Over Rising Use of Fossil Fuels in Bitcoin Mining, Transactions

Tesla Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, on Wednesday announced it has stopped accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicle.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, disclosed this in a tweet.

Musk said “Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. 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.

“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at a great cost to the environment.”

The billionaire further stated that Tesla will not be selling its holding of Bitcoin until mining transitions to more sustainable energy.

He said “Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”

Bitcoin plunged by 17 percent from $54,800 per coin to as low as $46.294 per coin before moderating to $50.656 per coin while Ethereum, XRP, and Dogecoin declined by 9.09 percent, 10.73 percent and 10.28 percent, respectively.

In March 2021, Elon Musk announced that customers in the United States can now purchase Tesla vehicles with Bitcoin.

This was despite Bill Gates, Janet Yellen and others complained about Bitcoin energy consumption and its impact on the globe going forward.

While Musk seems to have downplayed their concerns in March, the Billionaire is now pushing for exactly the same thing after accumulating enough Bitcoin. A move now criticized by millions of cryptocurrency lovers globally.

Nic Carter, founding partner at Castle Island Ventures, and a leading voice among defenders of Bitcoin’s energy use, said Elon Musk should have done his due diligence before accepting Bitcoin.

“Surely he would have done his diligence prior to accepting Bitcoin?’ Carter said. “Very odd and confusing to see this quick reversal.”

Others started pushing Dogecoin as a replacement for Bitcoin while some suggested Tether on the Tron network has the lowest energy consumption presently and it is a stable coin.