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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said for the first time that one of his companies, SpaceX, owns Bitcoin (BTC). Although the firm is yet to officially confirm how much bitcoin it has acquired, Tesla has already acquired $1.5 billion worth of the flagship crypto earlier in the year which sparked a massive bitcoin rally.
Musk revealed that SpaceX owns some bitcoin and Tesla might be close to accepting bitcoin payments once more after looking into BTC’s sustainability. After Tesla confirmed that it had acquired some bitcoin, the crypto market went on a rally. However, this rally was brought to an abrupt end after Tesla stopped taking bitcoin payments due to environmental worries.
But, while speaking at “The B Word”, a virtual Bitcoin (BTC) event, the erratic tech billionaire said that Tesla was on the verge of accepting the crypto once more after promising signs that a growing percentage of renewable energy is being used for bitcoin mining.
The increasingly changing narrative of Bitcoin going ‘green’ may enable the rally to reignite, with Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter telling CNBC on July 21 that bitcoin’s fundamentals are becoming better in terms of sustainability.
Elon Musk appeared alongside Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, and moderator Steve Lee from Square Crypto. The Tesla CEO did not reveal any extra details about SpaceX’s acquisition apart from saying:
“I do own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin, and I do personally own a bit of Ethereum and Dogecoin of course.”
He also added:
“We’re not selling any Bitcoin, nor am I selling anything personally or nor is SpaceX selling any Bitcoin.”
His statement confirms the longstanding speculation that the space infrastructure firm was adding BTC to its reserves. Anthony Scaramucci claimed in a mid-March tweet that he believed that Elon Musk did not stop with just Tesla’s purchase.
Elon Musk didn’t stop with Tesla. I understand that SpaceX owns #bitcoin on its balance sheet. @elonmusk owns over $5 billion in #bitcoin via Tesla, SpaceX, and personally. No living person has done more to protect the planet against climate change. (1/2)
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) March 19, 2021
During the event, Musk donned a bitcoin-themed t-shirt and seemed to be relatively optimistic about the future of digital gold as he said that he owns ‘much more Bitcoin than DOGE or Ether.’
In case you were wondering, this is the shirt that @elonmusk is wearing. pic.twitter.com/SNd0a8LLjj
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) July 21, 2021
The Tesla CEO also said that there seems to be a positive trend in renewable energy usage for bitcoin mining, citing the recent shutdown of coal-powered mining plants in China. He stated:
“I want to do a little more diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50% and that there is a trend towards increasing that number. If so, Tesla will resume accepting Bitcoin.”
Nic Carter Discusses Mining On CNBC
While speaking about Musk’s latest comments with CNBC’s Fast Money on July 22, Carter said he was “glad” that Elon Musk had started to evaluate the “ facts on the ground because they are very favorable.”
Carter reiterated Musk’s sentiments on China-based BTC mining, noting that the Chinese hash rate was extensively influenced by energy produced by coal and there had been a lack of transparency from ‘anonymous miners’ operating in that region. Carter said:
“The fundamentals are getting better in terms of the sustainability of Bitcoin.”
The Coinmetrics co-founder also pointed to the fact that miners in the United States and Canada are more likely to use sustainable practices and are quite willing to disclose their mining and crypto operations. He explained:
“A lot of that [mining in China] has been replaced by mining in Canada and the U.S., where miners are much more sustainably focused. We’re also seeing a lot more disclosure from miners, 32% of the hash rate joined a council, the Bitcoin Mining Council, and they produce quarterly disclosures now.”
Carter also pointed to the Bitcoin Mining Council’s (BMC) recent study that surveyed 32% of miners on the bitcoin network. That poll produced an estimate of a 67% sustainable power mix in Q2 2021.
It is not clear if Musk has factored in this survey as part of his due diligence, nonetheless, as it mainly relied on self-reported data acquired from a limited set of three survey questions only.
Carter acknowledged that the sustainability of bitcoin is not going to be entirely validatable until the whole world sees where most of the miners set up shop after the exodus from China. Nonetheless, in his own opinion, he said that:
“I think Bitcoin is perfectly suitable for payments today, and of course the environmental costs are offset by its enormous utility”
With mining activities seemingly getting greener and more institutions investing in Bitcoin, is another rally appearing on the horizon? Will more governments follow El Salvador’s lead and accept bitcoin as legal tender? Time will tell.