Electric vehicle startup Fisker has no intentions of following its rival Tesla’s example and investing in Bitcoin—or accepting it as a payment method.
“I just don’t think it’s a sustainable solution. It’s not environmentally friendly, and we would not do that,” the firm’s CEO and founder Henrik Fisker stated during CNBC’s “Closing Bell” on Monday.
"I just don't think it's a sustainable solution. It's not environmentally-friendly, and we would not do that."$FSRpic.twitter.com/RWxYQUAgrv
— CNBC's Closing Bell (@CNBCClosingBell) May 17, 2021
AD
AD
Fisker didn’t exclude the possibility of his firm accepting crypto in the future but said it’s definitely not a focus right now.
“I don’t think anybody can foresee what the currency is going to be in five years,” said Fisker, adding, “At this point, I’m not really bothered by what the currency is.”
Tesla's U-turn on Bitcoin
Fisker’s environmental concerns echoed sentiments voiced by Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently—but not before Musk's EV firm invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and began accepting the crypto (albeit briefly) as a form of payment for its cars.
Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin payments last week, citing “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions” as the main reason.
Musk himself then continued to bring up Bitcoin-related energy concerns on Twitter, stating that while he strongly believes in crypto, “it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal.”
Data provided by the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index suggests that Bitcoin’s blockchain consumes just over 140 TWh of power per year currently, more than countries such as Sweden and Ukraine.