Bitcoin adoption was picking up pace. Elon Musk slamming its ‘insane’ energy use may have stopped that.

Bitcoin adoption was picking up pace. Elon Musk slamming its ‘insane’ energy use may have stopped that.

When Elon Musk's Tesla announced it had of bitcoin and intended to start accepting it as payment in February, the cryptocurrency shot up and speculation abounded that other companies would soon follow suit. But Musk stunned cryptocurrency fans on Wednesday when he announced that Tesla would due to fears that its "insane" energy use is hurting the planet. tumbled as much as 15% on Wednesday before recovering somewhat and was around 22% below its record high on Friday. The idea that big companies — from to — are buying in or offering crypto services to clients has been a huge driver of the bitcoin boom, adding legitimacy and capital to the market. But after the most famous crypto enthusiast criticized bitcoin's energy use, the question is, will companies continue to adopt bitcoin? A key problem for investors attracted by bitcoin's stellar returns is that the cryptocurrency moment has come at a time when environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is center stage. Yet, bitcoin uses each year, with vast amounts of computing power required to solve complex puzzles to secure the network and create new coins. Bitcoin's defenders say it increasingly but a Bank of America report estimated that 72%