Bitcoin has registered more than five-fold gains. However, the asset managed to go on bombshell crash the immediate aftermath of the Tesla Chief’s latest tweet. Elon Musk revealed that his electric-car firm will no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment citing environmental concerns.
Taking to Twitter, Musk said that the car-maker was concerned about the “rapid use of fossil fuels” for the purpose of mining Bitcoin and transactions. The exec’s tweet also read,
“Energy usage trend over past few months is insane”
He went on to confirm that Tesla will not be selling its BTC holdings as it plans to use them for transactions as soon as the network transitions to more sustainable energy for mining.
However, this was enough for yet another high-profile dumping episode by the investors which Bitcoin to spiral down $45,000-level.
There are many players in the crypto community who were not impressed by this move. Binance CEO, CZ took a dig and said
“Elon probably did not research how much energy is required to run other [non-crypto] currencies that Tesla accepts.”
The author of the book ‘The Bitcoin Standard’ and Assistant Professor of Economics at the Lebanese American University, Saifedean Ammous was quick to point out about his aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX’s rockets. His tweet read,
“Unless you’ve also switched your rockets and battery manufacturing to “more sustainable energy” you’re going to look like a clueless big hypocrite here. The world needs sound money far more than it needs your rockets & government-subsidized electric cars.”
Bitcoin Manipulation Debates
The recent chain of events right from the tweet prompted debates and speculations on how Bitcoin has been impacted by the billionaire’s tweet. Not to forget the Dogecoin [DOGE] drama surrounding his infamous memes and subsequent appearance on SNL. For novice crypto investors, the ferocious crash is a reminder that the cryptocurrency’s steady consolidation can turn south in a jiffy, and much of the market still remains opaque.
VanEcK had previously debunked the energy consumption theory and reported that 76% of Bitcoin miners utilize renewable energy sources. 39% of total miner energy consumption comes from renewable sources of energy.
In any case, Musk, being one of the world’s biggest advocates of BTC and a billionaire who serves as a founder of two massive tech companies to ever exist in the world, interestingly did not know about coin’s mining’s impact on the environment before announcing Tesla’s investment of $1.5 billion in it. Hence, it is natural that there is also widespread doubt over his intentions.