The American electric vehicle company Tesla stops Bitcoin Payments due to the concerns about the use of Fossil Fuel.
The planet’s largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin fell around 17% after the tweet by Elon Musk, first five minutes saw a 5% drop after announcement.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, Elon Musk Tweeted:
“Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuel for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emission 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 also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.”
In February Tesla revealed that it had bought around $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and it may invest in more of bitcoin or other crypto currencies in the future.
The miners of China produces about 70% of Bitcoin, data from the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Alternative Finance shows.
They use hydropower which is renewable energy during the rainy summer months and rest of the year fossil fuel will be used.
The Firm that analysis blockchain’s say, it is possible to track the source of bitcoin, raising the possibility that a premium could be charged for green bitcoin. Stronger climate change policies by governments around the world might also help.
Mainstream investors and some corporate buyers including Tesla, Metromile ,Square and Nexon have flocked to bitcoin, viewing cryptocurrency as a potential inflation hedge while central banks print money to relieve coronavirus-distressed economies.
Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs both being major wall street banks have also sought to provide their wealthy clients with bitcoin exposure.
