New Delhi: Its only been two months since Elon Musk announced that Tesla will accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, becoming the first automaker to accept cryptocurrency. But, as a shock to everyone, Musk announced on Wednesday that Tesla will not accept Bitcoin anymore citing the the large amount of fossil used to mine the crypto coin. Musk himself has has been a vocal supporter of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Due to his interest the value of both of the crypto coins increased significantly.
Musk has been in the line of fire ever since his decision to accept Bitcoin in February, partially because he was seen as a crusader for protecting environment as Tesla electric cars are often mentioned as a viable alternative to fossil-fuel burning vehicles. But accepting bitcoin as payment for Tesla EV, means that people will use vast amounts of electricity for ‘mining’ the crypto coin. “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 late on Wednesday.
Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021
The announcement made Bitcoin slid by as much as 10%. Just a few days back, Musk had asked his Twitter followers if Tesla should also accept Dogecoin, another cryptocurrency, as a form of payment.
Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2021
In the real world, the use of cryptocurrency to make payments is a complex process which also has the potential of inviting tax-related troubles. The process of mining or creating Bitcoin is itself a highly complex process as it involves high-end computers solving computational puzzles which requires a large amount of electricity. Recently it was reported that the mining process takes up about the same amount of energy as the whole Netherlands used in 2019.
