The head of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, has revised his views on the environmental dangers of Bitcoin and is now, as it was in the recent past, preparing to once again accept the popular cryptocurrency as a means of payment for his company's electric vehicles.
According to the businessman, he confirms that the share of renewable energy sources in operations related to Bitcoin mining and transactions is 50% or even higher, and it continues to grow.
“I want to do a little more testing to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy use is likely to be 50% or higher, and that there is a trend to increase that number. If so, Tesla will most likely resume accepting bitcoins,” he said.
At the Crypto Council for Innovation's B-Word, Musk said bitcoin-related infrastructure is increasingly moving to green energy, a move away from old-style coal-fired power plants, especially after China banned cryptocurrencies.
Musk says Tesla will soon start selling electric cars for bitcoins again
Recall that in May, Musk unexpectedly published a post on Twitter that Tesla would stop accepting bitcoins as a means of payment for electric cars, due to concerns about "the rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels in the mining of bitcoins."
Since then, Beijing has banned cryptocurrency transactions in China, effectively driving miners out of the PRC, causing them to seek refuge in any country with a favorable investment climate and cheap energy. According to Cambridge University, many miners moved to the US; which has now become the world's second largest hub for crypto farms. The United States has some of the lowest electricity prices in the world, many of which are renewable. According to some estimates, more than 50% of cryptocurrency mining in the country is done using such sources.
"Renewables will be the cheapest in the long run, but that's not going to happen tonight," Musk said. "But since there is a conscious and determined real effort on the part of the cryptocurrency community to switch to renewable energy sources, it is clear that Tesla will support it."
Against the background of these statements, the bitcoin rate rose by 8% on Wednesday and exceeded $32.
