Elon Musk Tweets About Having Discussions on Cryptocurrency's Sustainability, Bitcoin Surges Bitcoin's all-time high in April topped $63,000.
By Euni Han
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Bitcoin's price jumped about 4% on Monday afternoon after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted he was talking to "North American Bitcoin Miners," according to CNBC. The cryptocurrency was trading just over $38,000, according to Coindesk, when Musk tweeted at 3:42 pm ET:
"[The miners are] committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising."
Spoke with North American Bitcoin miners. They committed to publish current & planned renewable usage & to ask miners WW to do so. Potentially promising.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 24, 2021
Bitcoin's price promptly surged to $39,500 in the next few minutes. This comes as nothing new seeing as the cryptocurrency's price has swung wildly each time the billionaire comments on it.
Related: The Founder of Bitcoin Will Have a Statue in Budapest
Musk has been a long-time fan of cryptocurrencies. His company Tesla owns approximately $1.5 billion in Bitcoin.
But on May 12th, Musk tweeted the company would no longer accept cryptocurrency as payment due to environmental concerns. Computers used to generate or "mine" bitcoin use energy derived from fossil fuels, namely coal.
Related: Bitcoin Has Lost More Than Half Its Value In a Month and a Half
Environmental impact was also on the table at Musk's meeting with some bitcoin miners and led to the development of a Bitcoin Mining Council to promote sustainability, according to Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
This week's price action follows a massive Bitcoin sell-off last week when the U.S. and China took steps to tighten tax compliance and regulation on cryptocurrencies.
Related: Elon Musk Received the Highest CEO Compensation Package Ever
