Tesla intends to restart accepting cryptocurrency payments

Elon Musk-led electric car manufacturing giant Tesla may soon seek to restore support for encrypted payments.

In a quarterly document submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in September this year, Tesla stated that “the practice of cryptocurrency trading may be restarted in the future”, indicating that Tesla is considering resuming the use of digital asset trading.

In addition, Tesla also expressed its belief in encrypted assets as a means of storage of value and means of payment. They wrote in the document, "We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets as investment and cash substitutes."

Over 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 24, Tesla announced that it would accept Bitcoin as 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 of all fossil fuels. In June, Musk remarked that once 50% of the Bitcoin network's hash rate 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 US, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said: “As the proportion of renewable energy used in Bitcoin mining increases, Tesla may resume accepting Bitcoin as a means of payment.

Each time Musk's remarks are released, the price of Bitcoin fluctuates 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 grown 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.

(Jinse Finance)