Bitcoin loses 6% in an hour after Tesla drops payments over carbon concerns

The Bitcoin markets are pulling back after electric car manufacturer Tesla suspended its support for vehicle purchases using BTC.

In a May 13 tweet, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk noted the company’s concerns regarding the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal.”

While Musk predicted that cryptocurrency “has a promising future,” he concluded that the rise of digital assets “cannot come at a great cot to the environment.

However, the firm has not ruled out accepting BTC again in future, with the post noting the firm will resume using Bitcoin “for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy.” Musk added:

“We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use

On social media, many within the crypto community have contradicted Musk and Tesla’s assertion regarding the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining, with Twitter use “The Wolf of All Streets” noting that “miners primarily use renewable energy.” 

However while the 3rd Global Cryptoasset Benchmarking Study by the University of Cambridge in October 2020 showed that up to 76% of cryptocurrency mining uses some renewable electricity, it estimated only 39% of the total power consumed by Proof of Work cryptocurrencies was green energy.

As of this writing, BTC has crashed roughly 6% in the past hour, tumbling from $54,800 to roughly $51,600.