Thursday, 13 May 2021: Bitcoin prices plummeted after Elon Musk; CEO of Tesla tweeted that his company would no longer accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its electric vehicles as earlier announced.

On Thursday, crypto currency news website Coindesk reported that Bitcoin was down around 12%, bringing the coin's price down to about $50,900.

After months of been bullish on it, Musk blamed the cryptocurrency's high environmental cost for the move.

"We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.

“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment."

Several questions have trailed the announcement by the millionaire CEO like how many vehicles have been purchased with bitcoin and whether Musk was not informed in its environmental impact.

The environmental cost of mining — or creating — digital currencies has been well-documented for years, with the debate around them reignited in recent months as cryptocurrency-based tokens known as NFTs exploded in popularity.

Tesla (TSLA) and Musk have appeared fairly bullish on bitcoin for at least a few months, with the company disclosing in February that it had invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and floating the ability to buy its cars using the cryptocurrency. Musk tweeted in late March that people "can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin."

Tesla bought $1.5 billion in bitcoin early this year. By the end of March, it was worth $2.5 billion

Musk, who has in the past expressed skepticism about cryptocurrencies, said in an interview on social app Clubhouse earlier this year that he thinks bitcoin is on the verge of "getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people." He said he should have bought the digital currency eight years ago.

On Wednesday, Musk said Tesla still plans to use bitcoin after the currency finds cleaner energy sources.

"Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy," he said. "We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use 1% of Bitcoin's energy/transaction."

Bitcoin isn't the only crypto currency, Musk has flaunted in recent weeks. He has also repeatedly hyped the canine-themed dogecoin, tweeting about it to his 54 million followers and even sending its price crashing when he played a character on "Saturday Night Live" who called the currency a "hustle."

Musk's last tweet before his Wednesday bitcoin about-face was a poll asking followers if they wanted "Tesla to accept Dogecoin."