Elon Musk says Tesla no longer accepts bitcoin for vehicle purchases, due to its environmental cost, will look at more environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies

Tesla has stopped accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars out of concern that it will contribute to greater consumption of fossil fuels …

The Verge 2021-05-13 Sean O'Kane

Context & Ripple Effects

Tesla’s bitcoin policy reversed quickly: after its $1.5B bitcoin purchase and planned payment rollout, the company enabled US vehicle purchases with the cryptocurrency. Related coverage had already highlighted the tension between that position and bitcoin mining’s energy use.

The suspension turns that tension into an operating constraint for Tesla’s payments strategy, while leaving the company looking at cryptocurrencies it considers more environmentally compatible.

First-order effects

Tesla vehicle buyers can no longer use bitcoin at checkout, and Tesla must evaluate alternative cryptocurrencies before restoring a crypto-payment option.
The announcement coincided with a sharp crypto-market selloff reported in coverage of the $365B market-value loss, making Tesla’s policy change immediately consequential for bitcoin holders and traders.

Second-order effects

Tesla’s reversal makes environmental cost a more prominent test for any cryptocurrency seeking acceptance in its vehicle-payment program, rather than treating crypto acceptance as a standalone treasury or checkout decision.
Cryptocurrencies positioned as more environmentally friendly have a clearer opening in Tesla’s stated evaluation process, while bitcoin’s energy use is now an explicit barrier to its use for Tesla purchases.

Third-order effects

If other companies follow Tesla’s framing, corporate crypto adoption will increasingly depend on the energy profile of the underlying network, not only customer demand or asset value.
The episode points toward a split in payment-crypto adoption between networks that can meet corporate environmental criteria and those whose energy consumption becomes a procurement constraint.

The trend: Corporate cryptocurrency acceptance is moving from a broad adoption signal toward a sustainability-screened payments decision.

Discussion

@elonmusk Elon Musk on x
Tesla & Bitcoin https://twitter.com/...
@apompliano @apompliano on x
@elonmusk Elon ... you realize that 75% of miners use renewable energy, right? This energy story has been debunked over and over again.
@mcuban Mark Cuban on x
We at https://mavs.com/ will continue to accept BTC/Eth/Doge because we know that replacing Gold as a store of value will help the environment https://www.nytimes.com/... and https://moneyweek.com/... shrinking big bank and coin usage will benefit society and the environment http…
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
There are thousands of pro-btc folks with their weird glowing eye avatars organizing on Clubhouse to come up with cohesive talking points against Elon. This room has 1,400. What a bizzare world we live on https://twitter.com/...
@jrhennessy Henno on x
Going to assume the Tesla thing is due to the idiotic logistics of actually accepting Bitcoin as payment for cars
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
“if one person can dramatically alter spending power, the ‘stable store of value’ criteria of a currency is not met,” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@scottmelker @scottmelker on x
Miners primarily use renewable energy. Also, nobody is buying cars with #Bitcoin. https://twitter.com/...
@cybergibbons @cybergibbons on x
We truly have entered a post-truth, post-science era. People with huge followings just invent stuff to be lapped up and parroted again and again. https://twitter.com/...
@yared_theguy @yared_theguy on x
The thing is supposed to be some great decentralized currency but one man has such an influence on it? https://twitter.com/...
@cz_binance @cz_binance on x
Elon probably did not research how much energy is required to run other (non crypto) currencies that Tesla accepts. 😂 https://twitter.com/...
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
I see skies of blue https://twitter.com/...
@mulligan @mulligan on x
Elon moves markets.
@wadhwa Vivek Wadhwa on x
Is Elon the last person on this planet to learn that Bitcoin has been destroying the environment? “Mining” this Ponzi scheme takes more energy than entire countries consume. https://twitter.com/...
@timcast Tim Pool on x
What Elon is actually saying “Here is our excuse to HODL BTC” The price will go down because people will panic and then rich people buy it up at a discount https://twitter.com/...
@thestalwart Joe Weisenthal on x
Elon just helped ease the semiconductor shortage
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
What if a condition for being a billionaire was that you could no longer tweet
@liz_franczak Liz Franczak on x
you people let elon scam away retirements on this app but made it illegal for me to read donnyT calling cheney's kid “the ugly piggy no one likes” i hate u
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
If Elon did a tweet but for LA housing prices, I would forgive him for everything he's done to me.
@salafel Salah Zalatimo on x
Carbon footprint is not a crypto problem, it's a proof of work problem. https://www.theverge.com/...
@hblodget Henry Blodget on x
Hasn't Bitcoin's extreme and pointless resource consumption been known for years? Why is Tesla only learning about it now? https://twitter.com/...
@liz_franczak Liz Franczak on x
man get a hold of yourself, elon didn't halt BTC transactions because of “the enviornment” get it together man
@stevekovach Steve Kovach on x
Bitcoin keeps falling hard https://twitter.com/...
@loganbartlett Logan Bartlett on x
starting to think elon musk might not be the most stable ambassador for a global financial product
@wbm312 Whitney Merrill on x
Cryptocurrency is bad for the environment. https://twitter.com/...
@lopezlinette Linette Lopez on x
Environmental concerns aren't new. What might be new is that Tesla realized that bc it can't book Bitcoin sales as profits — but rather as an intangible asset — this was blowing a hole in its balance sheet. https://twitter.com/...
@bgarlinghouse Brad Garlinghouse on x
Let's not overthink this..few people have changed the world the way @ElonMusk has. No doubt that BTC is here to stay - but denying there is a problem isn't a path to solving it. Whether it's through renewables or architectural changes, let's keep moving on the solution. https://t…
@sokane1 Sean O'Kane on x
NEW: Tesla halts bitcoin payments for its vehicles, and will stop selling bitcoin (which had helped pad its Q1 profit), citing environmental harm related to bitcoin mining. https://twitter.com/...
@melt_dem @melt_dem on x
something your heroes become villains something something y'all got played 🤡🤡🤡 clown sh*t 🤡🤡🤡 https://twitter.com/...
@jonathanwatts @jonathanwatts on x
Elon Musk says Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin due to fossil fuel use. https://www.theguardian.com/ ... Finally! What was he thinking?And what is anyone thinking who invests in this climate-trashing currency?
@campanalemark Mark Campanale on x
“Elon Musk says Tesla will no longer accept bitcoin due to fossil fuel use”. At last! A wave of sanity finally breaks out. Even better? Elon could have asked for a carbon tax paid in ££$$ at point of bitcoin creation. That would do the world a favour. https://www.theguardian.com/…
@arjunkharpal Arjun Kharpal on x
Elon Musk's tweet about #Tesla suspending car purchases with bitcoin wiped off $365 billion from the cryptocurrency market in just under 3 hours. There's been a slight bounce back but #bitcoin and other digital currencies are still sharply lower $TSLA $BTC https://www.cnbc.com/..…

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