Tesla Will Resume Taking Bitcoin as Payment Once Miners Go 50% Green, Musk Says
Tesla will resume accepting bitcoin as payment once the cryptocurrency’s power-hungry miners go halfway green, CEO Elon Musk tweeted Sunday. The news appears to have driven up the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Musk halted Tesla’s months-old crypto foray in mid-May citing environmental concerns. But “when there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing bitcoin transactions,” he said in the tweet.
It is unclear how Musk will fact-check miners‘ clean energy usage as there is widespread debate over where the industry currently stands. Even so, the comments provide a first benchmark for reinstating bitcoin payments at Tesla.
Musk’s tweet also reiterates his defense of having sold 10% of the electric vehicle maker’s bitcoin stash in Q1 and would also seem to indicate the company hasn’t sold any of the rest.
Musk’s tweet may have been what propelled the price of bitcoin sharply higher about an hour after the tweet was sent. In recent trading, bitcoin was changing hands at $39,200.21, up 9.66%, and leading other cryptocurrencies higher.
UPDATE (June 14, 03:00): Adds that the price of bitcoin may have been boosted by the news.
