Tesla Inc. TSLA Elon Musk said Thursday that worries about apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin’s (BTC) energy consumption can be “easily resolved” if large Bitcoin miners posted audited numbers of the renewable energy they used.
What Happened: Musk made the comments on Twitter in response to a tweet from Ark Investment Management research director Brett Winton about how Bitcoin mining could help speed the world’s transition to renewable energy.
See Also: How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC)
I agree that this *can* be done over time, but recent extreme energy usage growth could not possibly have been done so fast with renewables.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 20, 2021
This question is easily resolved if the top 10 hashing orgs just post audited numbers of renewable energy vs not.
Musk noted that the energy usage for Bitcoin mining has started to exceed those of medium-sized countries and it would be almost impossible for small mining companies to succeed without massive economies of scale.
Replying to another Twitter user who asked about the ideal energy usage for meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE), which is currently below 1kWh, Musk said a ratio of 0.1kWh would be ideal, “calculated as total energy used by system divided by max transaction rate.”
Why It Matters: Musk caused a stir in the cryptocurrency market earlier this month after he announced that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment due to environmental concerns.
Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management, which is a major Tesla backer, said in an analyst note on Monday it believes that concerns such as Musk’s over Bitcoin’s energy consumption are “misguided.” The analyst note is a reiteration of Ark Invest’s stance on Bitcoin mining.
Bitcoin is down 38.3% from its all-time high of $64,863.10 reached on April 14 this year. However, the apex cryptocurrency is up 1.2% during the last 24 hours and is trading at $40,062.22 at press time.
Price Action: Tesla shares closed 4.1% higher in Thursday’s trading at $586.78.
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