On May 13th, on Wednesday, local time in the United States, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said via Twitter that out of concerns about the “rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels in Bitcoin mining”, the The company has "suspended accepting Bitcoin to purchase its vehicles." After the news, the price of Bitcoin fell by about 5%.

Musk wrote: “Tesla has suspended the use of bitcoin to purchase vehicles. We are concerned about the rapid increase in fossil fuels used in bitcoin mining and trading, especially the use of coal, because coal’s greenhouse gas emissions are all The most serious of fuels. From many perspectives, cryptocurrency is a good idea, and we also believe that it has a bright future, but this cannot be at the expense of the environment. Tesla will not sell any bitcoins, and we intend to Mining has switched to sustainable energy before trading. At the same time, we are also studying other cryptocurrencies that consume less than 1% of Bitcoin in energy."

In a document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in February of this year, Tesla revealed that the company purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins and may invest in more bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies in the future. The company also stated at the time that it would start accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for purchasing its products.

In recent months, Tesla’s support for cryptocurrencies has driven the prices of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Dogecoin, to soar. Mainstream investors and many companies, including Tesla, Square, Metromilar, and Nexon, regard this digital currency as a potential inflation hedging tool, while central banks print banknotes to alleviate the COVID-19 pandemic. Economy.

US investment banks Goldman Sachs (Goldman Sachs) and Morgan Stanley (Morgan Stanley) and other major Wall Street banks are also seeking to provide bitcoin exposure to wealthy customers. But some investors, such as the founder of Softbank Group, Sun Zhengyi, still don't believe in this crypto boom. He said at a recent earnings conference: "There are many discussions about whether Bitcoin is a good thing or a bad thing, what its true value is, or whether it is in a bubble. To be honest, I don't know the answer."

Although Tesla said on Wednesday that it would not accept Bitcoin as a payment to buy cars, Musk made it clear that Tesla plans to continue to hold rather than sell existing Bitcoin, and will study other mining and trading that require less energy. Cryptocurrency.

In the first quarter of 2021, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of "digital assets" and then sold $272 million. The profit from the bitcoin sales had a "positive impact of $101 million on the company's profits." ".

Musk has always been a high-profile supporter of Bitcoin and Dogecoin. In the past year, he has been promoting them to millions of followers on Twitter. Last weekend, when hosting the "Saturday Night Live" program for the first time, Musk mentioned Dogecoin many times. (Little)

Source: NetEase Technology Report, translated by Google Translate