Tesla will accept bitcoins when miners use more clean energy: Musk

CGTN

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer media award in Berlin, Germany, December 1, 2020. /CFP

Elon Musk, CEO of electric vehicle maker Tesla, tweeted on Sunday that the U.S. company will accept bitcoin payments again when the virtual currency is greener.

Bitcoin rose by 5.1 percent to $37,360.63 at 1810 GMT on Sunday, adding $1,817.87 to its previous close, after Musk's tweet.

The American manufacturer caused a sensation in February when it announced that customers could pay in cryptocurrency, an option that became possible at the end of March. But then Musk changed his mind, indicating that bitcoins were no longer accepted – in the interest of protecting the environment.

"When there's confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions," the billionaire tweeted on Sunday.

Bitcoins are produced by powerful computers that have to solve equations and consume huge amounts of electricity in the process.

Musk on Sunday reacted to an article raising the possibility that with his tweets, which regularly move the value of bitcoin in one direction or another, he is manipulating market prices for the benefit of his business.

"This is inaccurate," he said. "Tesla only sold ~10% of holdings to confirm BTC could be liquidated easily without moving market."

The billionaire said that he believed cryptocurrency has a promising future, but it cannot be at great cost to the environment.

Tesla announced in early February that it had invested $1.5 billion of its ample cash in bitcoin and has since sold part of it.

(With input from AFP, Reuters)