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Tesla's Musk halts use of bitcoin for car purchases

Published 12/05/2021, 23:28
Updated 13/05/2021, 08:00
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin and U.S. One Dollar banknotes are seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken January 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin and U.S. One Dollar banknotes are seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken January 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

By Hyunjoo Jin and Kanishka Singh

(Reuters) -Tesla Inc will no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Wednesday, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin fell more than 10% after Musk tweeted his decision to suspend its use, less than two months after Tesla began accepting the world's biggest digital currency for payment. Other cryptocurrencies, including ethereum, also fell before regaining some ground in Asia trade.

The use of bitcoin to buy Tesla's electric vehicles had highlighted a dichotomy between Musk's reputation as an environmentalist and the use of his popularity and stature as one of the world's richest people to back cryptocurrencies.

Some Tesla investors, along with environmentalists, have been increasingly critical about the way bitcoin is "mined" using vast amounts of electricity generated with fossil fuels.

Musk said on Wednesday he backed that concern, especially the use of "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 great cost to the environment," he tweeted. Tesla shares fell 1.25% after hours.

Tesla revealed in February it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin, before accepting it as payment for cars in March, driving a roughly 20% surge in the cryptocurrency.

Tesla would retain its bitcoin holdings with the plan to use the cryptocurrency as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy sources, Musk said.

Bitcoin is created when high-powered computers compete against other machines to solve complex mathematical puzzles, an energy-intensive process that currently often relies on electricity generated with fossil fuels, particularly coal.

At current rates, such bitcoin “mining” devours about the same amount of energy annually as the Netherlands did in 2019, the latest available data from the University of Cambridge and the International Energy Agency shows.

Analysts said Musk's about-face was inevitable.

"The environmental impact from mining bitcoins was one of the biggest risks for the entire crypto market," said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at currency trading firm OANDA.

Meltem Demirors, chief strategy officer at digital asset manager CoinShares Group, said Tesla was unlikely to have sold many, if any, cars using bitcoin and the backflip generated positive publicity while simplifying payment processes.

"Elon was getting a lot of questions and criticisms and this statement allows him to appease critics while still keeping bitcoin on his balance sheet," Demirors said.

Mark Humphery-Jenner, an associate professor of finance at the University of New South Wales, said he was more concerned about Tesla management's "very hasty and precipitous" decision-making.

Musk did not say in his Twitter comments whether any vehicles had been purchased with bitcoin and Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CRYPTOCURRENCY SUPPORT

Some bitcoin proponents note that the existing financial system - with its millions of employees and computers in air-conditioned offices - uses large amounts of energy too.

Musk reiterated he remained a strong believer in cryptocurrencies.

"We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of bitcoin's energy/transaction," he tweeted on Wednesday.

Just a day earlier, Musk had polled Twitter users on whether Tesla should accept dogecoin, a currency he has helped turn from a joke into a valuable commodity.

He announced on Sunday that his commercial rocket company SpaceX will accept dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year - just hours after he sent the cryptocurrency spiraling downward when he called it a "a hustle" during a guest-host spot on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show.

CHINA DOMINANCE

The dominance of Chinese bitcoin miners and lack of motivation to swap cheap fossil fuels for more expensive renewables could mean there are few quick fixes to the cryptocurrency's emissions problem.

Chinese miners account for about 70% of bitcoin production, data from the University of Cambridge's Centre for Alternative Finance shows. They tend to use renewable energy - mostly hydropower - during the rainy summer months, but fossil fuels - primarily coal - for the rest of the year.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A representation of virtual currency Bitcoin and U.S. One Dollar banknotes are seen in front of a stock graph in this illustration taken January 8, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/File Photo

Officials in Beijing are conducting a check on data centres involved in cryptocurrency mining to better understand their impact on energy consumption, sources told Reuters last month.

In theory, blockchain analysis firms say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin.

Latest comments

Better he would worry about what environment impact leaves battery manufacturing for tesla cars.
this is why I don't trade by myself, I have experts that does the work and all I do is enjoy the ride.
what a stupid idea in the firstplace, so he is sitting on billions of $$ worth of electronic noting, worthless soon.
...  that's how major news can affect cryptocurrencies' value!
exactly, are you an expert?
This guy needs to make his mind up!
He's already made is mind up,Elon isn't stupid. The story doesn't add up to me - did he really only just discover that BTC production was not green this week? Presumably he had no complaints when Tesla were buying it. I suspect he is rocking the boat, and in a month or so he'll be doing another stunt which sends the prices up again. I'd be doing the same in his position.
After Tesla, again, made losses that were covered by the sale of their Bitcoin, Musk all of a sudden has a change of heart. Elon Musk and Tesla are slowly but surely becoming Theranos 2.0!
Cats out of the bag now.  Save the planet and BTC not compatible  BTC flash crashed to $47k overnight and now down 10% over 24 hours along with most of the main cryptos.  My newly opened Coinbase account will remain empty for now 😁
Where can I buy coal and burn it ? seems like a good idea to annoy EM
Hegel...Musk plays a good game, he's like Trump 🤑
Real reason is Bitcoin has lost value this quarter so Tesla will lose millions of dollars. Crypto is finished.
Don't you find it interesting that markets were on their way down and then boom, Musk adds fire to the dump? Strange how it's all interconnected eh? you might even think all the 'big boys' talk to each other about this stuff in advance😉
EM invest in real humans now &amp; you got a power to stop the Pharmaceutical propoganda worldwide &amp; propogate the use of cannabis in treatments worldwide as it is truly a herbal product &amp; encorage weed companies to produce &amp; use it for all treatments .
EM thank you &amp; please ban crypto from all transactions in general to save humanity &amp; you have proved that you are a spiritual guy when I read in past you sold your all material possessions &amp; want to live in rented place .
Why would you accept Bitcoin for payment of a car if the corner shop wouldn't accept them in payment for a Mars Bar? Stupid investors got their fingers burnt on that one
all they wanted was to manipulate the coins prices and swallow at cheap as possible.
So Musk and his gang didn't think about this before their original purchase of Bitcoin and announcing they WOULD accept Bitcoin for payments. Bunch of cowboys running the show, and manipulating markets.
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