Reports from the Bitcoin mining council claim that Bitcoin is now being mined at over 50% on cleaner energy sources. These figures have made Bitcoin enthusiasts take to Twitter to request that the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, accept Bitcoin once again as a valid means of payment. Environmental and energy concerns have been a bane for the cryptocurrency sector.
When China started its clampdown on cryptocurrencies, the government’s argument, aside from criminal exploitation, was that the mining process was consuming too much energy and harmful to the environment. The ensuing ban led to a large migration of crypto miners from China to countries like the United States and the European continent. The story with Tesla falls on a similar premise.
The leading manufacturers of electric vehicles, Tesla, had earlier in the year announced that it would receive Bitcoin payments. When the company made the announcement, the token experienced a price boost. The company, however, shifted its stance in May of this year. It expressed the same concerns that the Chinese government had expressed regarding environmental harms from mining.
The Set Metric
The difference between the two decisions is that with Tesla, the company expressed a willingness to accept the digital asset again if certain conditions were met. Elon Musk took to Twitter to let customers know that the token would be accepted again if the mining of Bitcoin could attain a minimum of 50% and show promise of that value continuing to improve. The Bitcoin mining council was formed in the middle of this year to monitor mining activity and take note of energy sources in use.
The Bitcoin mining council is made up of a group of Bitcoin miners, and this group disclosed in the second quarter that the mining of Bitcoin on renewable energy sources had hit 57%. The council has since updated the previous data, with their findings now pointing at a 57.7% migration to renewables. These figures are significant as they beat the metric set by Elon Musk and Tesla in June of this year.
Reaction Of Bitcoin Bulls
The information released by the council, if correct, should meet the criteria to bring the payment option back. Bitcoin faithful have taken to Twitter to get the richest man in the world to consider the data from the council and reevaluate his position on Bitcoin acceptance. Some skeptics point out that only over 30% of the Bitcoin mining pool participated in the evaluation. Some suggest that the only sure way will be an energy audit.
Many Bitcoin enthusiasts will love to see the company renew its acceptance of the token as it will be sure to bring some bullish sentiment to the market. As stated earlier, the announcement the first time around sent the price of the token pumping. There is yet to be a statement from Elon Musk or Tesla responding to these claims.
There remains a lot of international concern about the environmental impacts on the mining process. Countries like Sweden have called for an outright ban in Europe. Swedish suggestions are beginning to get consideration from Norway.