Highlights:
- Tesla stops accepting bitcoin as a currency for its transactions.
- Also says that it will use cryptocurrency if the cryptocurrency does not have a huge carbon footprint.
Introduction:
Tesla stops accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars. This happens as a result of concern that it will contribute to the greater consumption of fossil fuels. Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using BitCoin. We are concerned about the 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. 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.
Tesla head just began accepting Bitcoin in late March. And it has just been 49 days since this.
How the value profits the company’s profit figures:
Musk also said that Tesla will no longer sell any more of the dollar 1.5 billion stashes of Bitcoin. They had purchased this stash earlier this year. The company sold some of the Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021. It warmed up helping pad the company’s quarterly profit figures.
According to the company, it would resume the acceptance of Bitcoin, once the process of mining Bitcoin “transitions to more sustainable energy” begins. The tweet mentions that the company is also “looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”
As of this tweet, Tesla’s website indicates that it will still accept Bitcoin for transactions.
How huge carbon print affects the environment:
Bitcoin uses up as much electricity annually as the Netherlands according to one estimate. All the energy comes with a huge carbon footprint. There is no simple fix since the blockchain. The cryptocurrency is built on is purposely energy inefficient. This creates a clash with Tesla’s mission to “accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.”
Musk has also hyped another cryptocurrency Dogecoin. But the company has not invested in it. Musk calls Dogecoin his favorite cryptocurrency, and “the people’s crypto”. Dogecoin was invented as a joke to satirize Bitcoin. Dogecoins’ worth went down after Musk called it a “hustle” on Saturday Night Live. Bitcoins value has plunged about 4% after Musk tweeted. The value went down to $52593.46 at 6:21 p.m. ET from $54829.14 at 6:06 p.m.