Tesla no longer accepting Bitcoin payment for its vehicles
Al Edwards / Our Today
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Electric vehicle maker Tesla is no longer accepting popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin as payment for its cars.
This is an about-turn for its CEO Elon Musk, who earlier this year, championed Bitcoin and said his company would accept the digital currency, whose fortunes continue to fluctuate.
Elon Musk put out a statement on Twitter that read: “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions especially 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.”
“Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1 [per cent] of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction,” the statement added.
Earlier this year, Tesla had bought US$1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Tesla has always stressed that it is committed to reducing carbon emissions and that its business model is predicated on sustainable energy and a clean environment.
Last month, Tesla reported net income of US$438 million for the quarter as well as earnings of 93 cents per share on US$10.39 billion in revenue. It also recorded a US$101 million positive impact from sales of Bitcoin during the quarter.
Tesla is now looking to make 2,000 Model S and X vehicles every week.
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