Tesla stops taking Bitcoin for vehicle purchases, citing environmental harm
Tesla has stopped accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars out of concern that it will contribute to greater consumption of fossil fuels, according to a statement CEO Elon Musk tweeted Wednesday. Tesla had only just started accepting bitcoin in late March.
Musk also said that Tesla will no longer sell any more of the $1.5 billion stash of bitcoin it purchased earlier this year. Tesla sold some of that bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021, which wound up helping pad the company’s quarterly profit figures.
Tesla says it would resume accepting bitcoin (and would consider selling more of it) once the process of mining bitcoin “transitions to more sustainable energy,” according to the statement. The company is also “looking at other…
