Tesla chief executive Elon Musk denounced on Thursday the “crazy” energy consumption of the production of bitcoin, hours after announcing that Tesla will no longer accept bitcoins for the purchase of its cars because their creation is too polluting.
Following this announcement, the price of the largest cryptocurrency fell as low as $46,710 before recovering. It is now down 1.29% to $48,796. “We are concerned about the increasing reliance on fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining (creation) and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Elon Musk said on Twitter.
“Cryptocurrency is a good idea in many ways and we think it has a great future, but it can't come at a huge cost to the environment,” Elon Musk said on Twitter on Wednesday.
According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Bitcoin mining consumes 149.63 terawatt-hours per year, more than Sweden or Malaysia.
The group has since said it reduced its position by about 10% in the first quarter.
Elon Musk said he shared this concern, especially the use of coal “which has the worst emissions of all fuels”.
(Chart Source: Tradingview 13.05.2021)
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