Elon Musk: Bitcoin energy use ‘insane’

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that Bitcoin energy use is “insane” after announcing Wednesday that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for vehicles, citing environmental concerns.

“Energy usage trend over past few months is insane,” Musk tweeted.

Energy usage trend over past few months is insane https://t.co/E6o9s87trw pic.twitter.com/bmv9wotwKe

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2021

Musk announced on Wednesday that Bitcoin would no longer be used to purchase Tesla vehicles because the company is “concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.”

Musk has been one of the biggest proponents of Bitcoin and his announcement caused it to fall by more than 10 percent, Reuters reported.

“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,” Musk wrote on Wednesday.

The announcement to stop accepting Bitcoin for Tesla vehicles came only two months after Tesla began accepting the cryptocurrency for vehicle purchases.

Musk said that once Bitcoin can be produced with more sustainable energy, the company would accept it again.

“Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy,” Musk said.