Teslas Can Now Be Bought With Bitcoin, Says Elon Musk

Weeks after it was revealed that Tesla is tracking to generate more profit off of a $1 billion Bitcoin investment than actual car sales, CEO-turned-“Technoking of Tesla” Elon Musk announced that his EV company would begin accepting the cryptocurrency as payment.

As is customary for Musk-related breaking news, the announcement came in a series of tweets from the billionaire electric vehicle mogul.

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“You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin,” tweeted Musk, adding that they run “internal and open source” software to “operate Bitcoin nodes.”

CNBC reports that nodes are computers on Bitcoin’s network that work to verify transactions, preventing the cryptocurrency from being spent twice.

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“Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency,” Musk wrote.

A “Bitcoin” FAQ support page on Tesla’s website includes other details. Bitcoin is the only crypto that will be accepted, and transactions are limited to customers in the continental United States.

Weirdly, the decision to accept Bitcoin may conflict with Tesla’s environmentally-conscious goals. According to a 2018 paper published in prestigious academic journal Nature, Bitcoin uses more electricity annually than the entire country of Argentina.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that Bitcoin-related emissions could singlehandedly increase the earth’s temperature, thus contributing to global warming.

Published at Wed, 24 Mar 2021 15:20:27 +0000