The price of bitcoin hit a two-week peak just shy of $40,000 on Monday after Elon Musk said Tesla may resume accepting the cryptocurrency ...
The price of bitcoin hit a two-week peak just shy of $40,000 on Monday after Elon Musk said Tesla may resume accepting the cryptocurrency for its cars.
Bitcoin has gyrated to Musk's views for months ever since Tesla announced a $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase in February and said it would take the cryptocurrency in payment.
He later said the electric car maker would not accept bitcoin due to concerns over how mining the currency requires high energy use and contributes to climate change.
The CEO tweeted on Sunday night that Tesla will start taking bitcoin payments for cars when miners can ensure 'reasonable clean energy usage'.
'When there's confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions,' Musk tweeted.
Bitcoin rallied more than 9 percent after that message, breaking above its 20-day moving average, to hit $39,838.92.
Tesla will start taking payment for cars in bitcoin when miners can ensure 'reasonable clean energy usage,' according to CEO Elon Musk
Bitcoin rallied more than 9 percent after that message, breaking above its 20-day moving average, to hit $39,000
Bitcoin rose 5.1 per cent to $37,360.63 (£26,529.60) on Sunday, adding $1,817 (£1,289) in value after Musk sent his latest tweet about renewable energy usage in mining
Musk had announced in May that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin for car purchases, citing long-brewing environmental concerns for a swift reversal in the company's position on the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell more than 10 per cent after that tweet.
'The market had been going through another round of correction over the weekend... until Elon Musk's tweet of accepting BTC again for Tesla purchases changed sentiment,' said Bobby Ong, co-founder of crypto analytics website CoinGecko.
He said the market was also supported by software company and major bitcoin-backer MicroStrategy raising half a billion dollars to buy bitcoin.
Bitcoin is up about 33 per cent this year but has collapsed from a record peak above $60,000 (£42,000) amid a regulatory crackdown in China and Musk's apparently wavering enthusiasm for it.
Telsa stock is down about 30 per cent since the company's bitcoin purchase.
Musk's tweet on Sunday night was made in response to an article based on remarks from Magda Wierzycka, head of cybersecurity firm Syngia, who in a radio interview last week accused him of 'price manipulation' and selling a 'big part' of his exposure.
'This is inaccurate,' Musk said. 'Tesla only sold ~10 per cent of holdings to confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market.'
Musk had tweeted in May that Tesla 'will not be selling any bitcoin' and 'has not sold any bitcoin,' but investors are keenly awaiting Tesla's next earnings update - due next month - for any disclosure of changes to its position.
Musk has taken issue with the vast computing power required to process bitcoin transactions and in posted messages appearing to lament a breakup with bitcoin.
Other cryptocurrencies were steady after weekend gains, with Ether at $2,491 (£1,767) and one-time Musk darling Dogecoin buying about 32 US cents (23p).
Bitcoin is up about 33 per cent this year but has collapsed from a record peak above $60,000 (£42,000) amid a regulatory crackdown in China and Musk's apparently wavering enthusiasm for it
The billionaire said that he believed cryptocurrency has a promising future, but it cannot be at great cost to the environment
Bitcoin, the world's most popular cryptocurrency, was launched back in 2009.
Major companies already accepting Bitcoin – like Microsoft, Wikipedia and AT&T – typically use specialist payment processors that convert the cryptocurrency into traditional currency and send the sum to the company.
Like other cryptocurrencies including Ether and Dogecoin, Bitcoin is still little used for commerce in major economies, hampered by its volatility and relatively costly and slow processing times.
Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said the ride-hailing company discussed and 'quickly dismissed' the idea of investing in Bitcoin, although he said Uber could potentially accept the cryptocurrency as payment.
While Tesla rival General Motors Co said it would evaluate whether Bitcoin could be accepted as payment for its vehicles.
The problem with bitcoin is the energy involved in mining new coins and verifying existing value, according to billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
It uses more electricity per transaction than any other method or currency known to humanity due to the way it is mined by high-powered computers.
The machines continuously solve maths puzzles that require fast, expensive processors that use huge amounts of energy to run and keep cool.
These farms are often connected to the electricity grid, and in most countries fossil fuels are the main source of energy for these national grids.
A 2018 study published in Nature found huge farms of computers used to mine Bitcoin could produce enough greenhouse gases to raise global temperatures 3.6°F (2°C) in less than three decades.
Studies have shown that the annual carbon emissions from the electricity generated to mine and process the cryptocurrency is equal to the amount emitted by whole countries, including New Zealand and Argentina.
The main cost of sourcing new bitcoins is in the cost of electricity.
In the earliest days of bitcoin a miner could earn 50 BTC every few minutes, but the more bitcoin are uncovered, the harder it is to find them, creating a scarcity.
Today a dedicated $2,000 (£1,419) bitcoin miner will generate about $8 (£5.68) in bitcoin revenue per day, not including the cost of electricity.
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