Bitcoin’s price surged after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the electric vehicle maker could accept bitcoin transactions again in future.
As of 11:09 p.m. ET Sunday, Bitcoin surged 10.2% to $38,903.23, according to data from Coindesk. Since the start of the year, BTC has surged more than 30%, though its current price is way off the all-time high of $64,829.14 hit in April.
As of 9.00 A.M East African Time Monday, the digital currency was trading at $39,372.03 a 12.10% rise.
Elon Musk announced in a tweet that When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with the positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing bitcoin transactions.
The announcement was a response to comments from Magda Wierzycka, CEO of South African asset manager Sygnia, who said that Elon’s tweets on bitcoin prices were “market manipulation” and should have triggered an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Tesla revealed in an SEC filing in February that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of BTC and said it would begin accepting BTC as a payment method for its products.
However, the electric-car maker halted car purchases with bitcoin in mid-May due to concerns over how cryptocurrency mining, which requires banks of powerful computers, contributes to climate change.
Growing Support for Bitcoin
Elsewhere, Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan told the East African nation’s financial chiefs to prepare for cryptocurrency. she said the age of crypto and blockchain was dawning as she urged her country to pave the way for change.
“We have witnessed the emergence of a new journey through the internet. I know that throughout the nation, including Tanzania, they have not accepted or started using these routes. However, my call to the Central Bank is that you should start working on that development. The Central Bank should be ready for the changes and not be caught unprepared.” Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan
