Unlike Tesla, Mavs restates commitment to BTC
2 min readTL;DR Breakdown
- Mavs says it will keep receiving BTC payment.
- BTC energy consumption remains a hot topic.
Mark Cuban, owner of Dallas Mavericks (Mavs) professional Basketball team, has restated his clubs’ commitment to BTC, noting that they won’t be following suit with Tesla’s decision to suspend BTC payment for products offered by the team.
In a response tweet to Elon Musk, he said that Mavs would continue to accept BTC, Ether (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE) as payment means for tickets and merchandise items.
He said that replacing gold as a store of value will help the environment but noted that Shrinking big bank and coin usage would benefit society and the environment.
The papers Cuban referred to separately argue that gold mining has high environmental costs and that most energy used in the BTC mining process is renewable.
Musk primarily suspended BTC payment for Tesla cars because of the carbon footprint associated with BTC mining. The suspension led to a significant market correction, with BTC dipping below $50,000 and the entire crypto market capitalization shedding over 10 percent.
Tesla stock also tumbled after the announcement and was last down 1.8% in premarket trading on Thursday.
The Tesla CEO further expressed concerns about BTC mining energy, tweeting this morning, alluding to energy usage trends, which Musk characterized as “insane.”
Mavs, BTC and the environment
BTC mining energy consumption continues to be a subject of debate as well as a popular narrative for BTC critics who use it as a point against the digital currency.
Earlier this month, a bill was launched in the New York State Senate that seeks to halt BTC mining until its environmental impact can be assessed.
Research by Bank of America showed that cryptocurrency uses more energy than corporations like American Airlines earlier this year. Musk abandoning BTC payments for Tesla also coincides with the company’s carbon credit aspirations.
According to a report by Reuters on Wednesday, the electronic vehicle manufacturing giant is among one of eight firms with pending applications at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
