After CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would stop accepting bitcoin as a viable form of payment for its vehicles due to the amount of needed energy to mine the coin, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies took a slight nosedive earlier this month. It would appear now that Musk is having a change of heart.
After speaking with bitcoin miners, the Tesla (TSLA) and SpaceX CEO tweeted late Monday that the North American miners said they are “committed to publish current and planned renewable usage.”
He went on to add that these same miners will ask their global rivals to do the same – a development he claimed “potentially promising.”
Hitting an all-time high just last month of $60,000, bitcoin (XBT) has found some sort of balance in recent days at $37,000 after dropping.
In the past few weeks, prices for other top crypto like ethereum, binance coin, cardano, XRP, and even dogecoin – the meme coin Musk has previously tweeted about and even called a “hustle” during his appearance on “Saturday Night Live” have also plummeted.
Other factors throwing a wrench in crypto movement can be attributed to a new crackdown in China, a location where many miners operate, and new guidance from the US Treasury Department on how to properly tax bitcoin.
Even so, Musk’s commentary drives shares for several top bitcoin mining companies. Mining companies own the facilities that house high-end hardware that is used to solve complex mathematical puzzles which generate new bitcoin.
Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA), and Hive Blockchain (HVBTF) all jumped on Monday more than 10%, then dropped back a bit on Tuesday morning.
CEO of software firm MicroStrategy (MSTR) Michael Saylor, who owns a rather large portion of bitcoin, and has continued to purchase more since prices have dropped, tweeted in a series that he ‘helped arrange the meeting between Musk and the bitcoin miners.’
Saylor went into specifics and named Riot, Hive, and Marathon, along with five others, and made note that they “have agreed to form the Bitcoin Mining Council to promote energy usage transparency and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide.”
MicroStrategy shares bumped up 5% on Monday, while the stocks have reflected the movement of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies – similar to Tesla and other bitcoin miners lately.
MicroStrategy is one of many high-profile companies whose stocks have been affected in the past year. Though being up nearly 20% this year, it has tanked nearly 65% after its former 52-week high.
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