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You can now buy a Tesla car with Bitcoin

As Elon Musk’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrency continues unabated, it will now be accepted as payment for a Tesla car.

Tesla, a firm which bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin back in February, has now announced that it will accept the cryptocurrency in payment for a Tesla vehicle, bringing it into the mainstream as never before.

The move was announced on Twitter by the company’s flamboyant CEO, Elon Musk, who has recently shown great interest in cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens, which could become cornerstones of a new kind of digital economy. Signaling his confidence in Bitcoin, Musk also announced that Bitcoin received from sales of Tesla cars “will be retained as Bitcoin, and not converted to fiat currency”.

However, many people picked up on the opposing environmental impacts of the two entities. While Tesla cars, and other electric cars like them, curely hold the key to future transportation due to their lower pollution and carbon dioxide emissions, the energy necessary to “mine” Bitcoin has soared, giving the cryptocurrency the equivalent annual carbon footprint to the entire country of Argentina.

Elon Musk, who has given himself the new job title “technoking“, seems not to have addressed these concerns, instead trading in cheap cynicism such as the above tweet.

Environmental concerns are not the only criticism leveled at the controversial currency, which supporters see as liberated currency, unshackled from governmental meddling, while detractors have criticised it as an unsustainable Ponzi scheme that may be employed for money-laundering.

Electric cars certainly have a bright future; whether Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ futures are similarly glowing remains to be seen. If you want to jump off the wagon now, it might be a good time to treat yourself to a Tesla.

 

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