In the past, mining was criticized for being too energy-consuming and not environmentally friendly! Musk has now changed his tune and praised the "Bitcoin energy consumption mechanism."

The CEO of electric vehicle giant TSL, Elon Musk, known for his tech craziness, always manages to stir the market's nerves with his every word and deed. Recently, he made a rare appearance in the crypto assets community, openly praising the energy consumption mechanism of Bitcoin. This statement stands in stark contrast to his position in 2021, when he criticized Bitcoin Mining on environmental grounds and stopped TSL from accepting Bitcoin payments, sparking heated discussions in the market.

On October 14, the well-known financial blog ZeroHedge posted on the social platform X, pointing out that the surge in gold, silver, and Bitcoin is due to the fact that the U.S. and Chinese governments are engaging in “currency devaluation” to fund the “AI arms race,” prompting investors to seek hedging tools against the devaluation of fiat currency.

Musk not only expressed his agreement with this, but further elaborated on his latest understanding of the value of Bitcoin:

This is why Bitcoin is based on energy: you can issue unlimited counterfeit currency; every regime in history has done this, but you cannot counterfeit energy.

This statement perfectly echoes the core argument used by the Bitcoin community for years to counter the “energy consumption” criticism. The logic behind it is that the government can print money without limit, but Bitcoin can only enter circulation as a reward when miners genuinely consume energy and process new transaction blocks. The reality of energy ensures the scarcity and value of Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin bull, co-founder of Strategy Michael Saylor, later echoed in the conversation, emphasizing: “Natural law always prevails over human law.”

However, Musk has not always been so supportive of the energy attributes of Bitcoin.

Looking back at 2021, TSL once accepted Bitcoin payments, but only a few months later it was halted. At that time, Musk even posted that the energy consumption of Bitcoin “has reached madness in recent months,” and cited data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index to support this.

Musk then explained that as long as miners are using clean energy “reasonably” (which he defines as a standard of 50%), TSL will resume accepting Bitcoin payments.

Despite the ongoing turmoil, Tesla has consistently held Bitcoin on its balance sheet since February 2021. According to data from BitcoinTreasuries, Tesla currently holds 11,509 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $1.28 billion.

However, the quantity of Bitcoin held by TSL is no longer at its peak. In May 2021, TSL's holdings once reached as high as 43,200 coins, but in the same month it stopped accepting Bitcoin payments, the company sold a portion of its holdings.

Subsequently, in July 2022, TSL sold off 75% of its remaining Bitcoin assets all at once, citing “Bitcoin asset impairment,” cashing out approximately 936 million USD.

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