Tesla intends to restart cryptocurrency payments
In a quarterly document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September this year, Tesla stated that “the practice of cryptocurrency trading may be restarted in the future”, which indicates that Tesla is considering resuming the use of digital asset trading.
In addition, Tesla also expressed its belief in crypto assets as a means of storage of value and a means of payment. They wrote in the document, “We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets as investment and cash substitutes.”
In the past six months, Musk's attitude towards cryptocurrency has undergone several major reversals.
On February 8, Tesla announced a high-profile purchase of $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. On March 24th, Tesla announced that it would accept Bitcoin as a payment. Just two months later, on May 13, Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla called to stop buying cars with Bitcoin. The reason for the suspension is environmental considerations: concerns that Bitcoin mining and trading will lead to a rapid increase in the consumption of fossil fuels, especially coal, which has the most carbon emissions among all fossil fuels. In June, Musk remarked that once the 50% hash rate of the Bitcoin network is powered by renewable energy, Tesla will consider resuming support for Bitcoin payments.
On July 22, in an online interview on Wednesday, local time in the United States, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said: “As the proportion of renewable energy used in Bitcoin mining increases, Tesla may be Resumption of acceptance of Bitcoin as a means of payment.
Every time after Musk's remarks are released, the price of Bitcoin will fluctuate dramatically. After February 8, the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed by $10,000. On May 13, the price of Bitcoin plummeted by $10,000.
As of press time, Tesla still holds more than 4,200 bitcoins, valued at approximately US$2.673 billion.
In fact, as Bitcoin has become more and more widely accepted, various companies have accepted Bitcoin as a face-to-face and online payment method, including giants such as Microsoft and Twitter. Earlier, there were media reports that Amazon was seeking to accept Bitcoin payments by the end of the year, and Amazon denied the news.