Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) will no longer accept Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) for vehicle purchases over concerns of the cryptocurrency environmental impact, said Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk on Twitter.
What Happened: According to Musk’s tweet, the automaker is concerned about the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels” used for Bitcoin mining and transactions.
“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a prominent future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” the statement reads.
Elon Musk-led automaker started accepting Bitcoin in March after it had bought $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency in February.
Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.
Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
What Else: Despite this decision, Tesla said it would not be selling “any Bitcoin,” as it plans to use it for transactions in the future, “as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.”
The company added it is also looking at other digital currencies that use less than one percent of BTC energy.
Price Action: Bitcoin price went down minutes after the announcement. The leading cryptocurrency was trading at $52,272 at press time.
This is a developing story.
