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Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday said he spoke with several bitcoin miners in North America, convincing them to form an organisation to promote energy usage transparency and accelerate sustainable mining worldwide.
The move comes weeks after Musk suspended Tesla vehicle purchases using bitcoin , over environmental concerns . After the announcement, prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and meme-based Dogecoin, dropped .
Musk also decried bitcoin’s “insane” energy usage, especially the use of coal, which has the worst emissions among fossil fuel.
The Bitcoin Mining Council will consist of miners who commit to publishing current and planned renewable usage, Musk tweeted, calling the move “potentially promising”.
Also Read | Bitcoin miners and oil drillers bond over natural gas
Executive from several crypto mining companies including ArgoBlockchain, Galaxy Digital, Core Scientific and Hive were present at the meeting, and decided to establish an organisation to standardise energy reporting, pursue industry ESG goals and educate and grow the marketplace, Michael Saylor, CEO of mining company MicroStrategy, said in a tweet.
The Musk-led council will respect bitcoin’s fungibility and will not change the nature of the crypto asset, but will simply promote greener practices, Argo Blockchain CEO Peter Wall told CoinDesk.
Published - May 26, 2021 01:54 pm IST
