Musk recognises green trend in Bitcoin energy usage

Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) needs to do a bit more due diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy consumption in Bitcoin mining is at or above 50% before it can resume accepting payments with the cryptocurrency, according to CEO Elon Musk.

Musk said so at a virtual BTC event, noting that “there appears to be a positive trend in the energy usage of Bitcoin,” partially due to the drop of Bitcoin price.

He pointed out that in the due diligence he also wants to see a trend towards increasing the renewable energy use percentage further. The CEO stated that most likely the US electric cars maker would resume accepting Bitcoin, emphasising on “most likely”.

In explaining his decision for Tesla to suspend allowing such transactions, Musk said that he noticed “a massive increase in the amount of energy used to mine Bitcoin” from the moment the company announced it had acquired Bitcoin and was doing Bitcoin transactions.

“There was just no way that you could basically double or triple the amount of energy in such a short period of time with renewables. You could shovel coal that fast,” he said.

Musk reiterated he is not selling any Bitcoin, neither personally nor through any of his companies.

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