It goes without saying that Tesla took center stage last week when the company announced it would no longer support bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles.

The message seems to have resonated, as Greenidge Generation Bitcoin Mining has vowed to be carbon neutral in 2021 and beyond.

Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Mining

After announcing plans to expand its Bitcoin mining operations last month, Greenidge is now looking to go entirely carbon neutral this year and in the future.

The company is committed to the cause, and it plans to invest in US-based renewable energy projects.

According to a recent press release, the company will also take part in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a market-based program where participants sell CO2 allowances through auctions and invest the proceeds in renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Speaking on the matter was Jeffrey Kirt, the CEO of the company, who said:

“Our bitcoin mining capability is already best-in-class and seamlessly integrated with our electricity generation that powers thousands of homes and businesses. By taking the bold and unique step of making or cryptocurrency mining fully carbon neutral immediately – as opposed to some distant date in the future – Greenidge is once again leading in environmental efforts.”

Musk’s Message Resonates

Greenidge’s announcement comes days after the leading electric vehicle manufacturer, Tesla, revealed that it would no longer support bitcoin payments. As a reason for its decision, the company cited environmental concerns related to bitcoin mining.

Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, confirmed and reiterated that he is bullish on crypto but so long as it doesn’t have a negative environmental impact.

The company also said that it’s looking for ‘greener’ alternatives to Bitcoin so that it can continue accepting crypto payments. This led to many speculations about which cryptocurrency it would choose. Shortly after, Musk said that he’s working closely with Dogecoin developers to improve transaction efficiency, causing many to believe that the meme-inspired coin might be Tesla’s choice.

Last week, Elon Musk and Tesla shocked the entire crypto industry following an announcement that the electric car company will no longer accept bitcoin payments for “environmental reasons.”

A Hard Pill For Bitcoin Maximalists

Giving its reasons, Tesla argued that Bitcoin mining operation requires massive energy consumption, which is generated from fossil fuel, especially coal, and as such, causes environmental pollution.

The announcement caused a market dip which saw over $4 billion of both short and long positions liquidated as the entire capitalization lost almost $400 billion in a day.

For Bitcoin maximalists and proponents, Tesla’s decision was a hard pill to swallow, and that was evident in their responses to the electric car company and its CEO.

While the likes of Max Keiser lambasted Musk for his company’s move, noting that it was due to political pressure, others like popular YouTuber Chris Dunn were seen canceling their Tesla Cybertruck orders.

Adding more fuel to the fire, Musk also responded to a long Twitter thread by Peter McCormack, implying that Bitcoin is not actually decentralized.

Bitcoin is actually highly centralized, with supermajority controlled by handful of big mining (aka hashing) companies.

A single coal mine in Xinjiang flooded, almost killing miners, and Bitcoin hash rate dropped 35%. Sound “decentralized” to you?https://t.co/Oom8yzGRNQ

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2021

Musk Working With Dogecoin Devs

Elon Musk, who named himself the “Dogefather” on SNL, created a Twitter poll, asking his nearly 55 million followers if they want Tesla to integrate DOGE as a payment option.

The poll, which had almost 4 million votes, was favorable for Dogecoin, as more than 75% of the community voted “Yes.”

Following Tesla’s announcement, the billionaire tweeted that he is working closely with Dogecoin developers to improve transaction efficiency, saying that it is “potentially promising.”

Tesla dropping bitcoin as a payment instrument over energy concerns, with the possibility of integrating dogecoin payments, comes as a surprise to bitcoiners since the two cryptocurrencies use a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm and, as such, face the same underlying energy problem.

Elon Musk: Dogecoin Wins Bitcoin

Despite using a PoW algorithm, Elon Musk continues to favor Dogecoin over Bitcoin. Responding to a tweet that covered some of the reasons why Musk easily chose DOGE over BTC, the billionaire CEO agreed that Dogecoin wins Bitcoin in many ways.

Comparing DOGE to BTC, Musk noted that “DOGE speeds up block time 10X, increases block size 10X & drops fee 100X. Then it wins hands down.”

Ideally, Doge speeds up block time 10X, increases block size 10X & drops fee 100X. Then it wins hands down.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 16, 2021

Max Keiser: Who’s The Bigger Idiot?

As Elon Musk continues his lovey-dovey affair with Dogecoin, Bitcoin proponents continue to criticize the Dogefather.

Following Musk’s comments on Dogecoin today, popular Bitcoin advocate Max Keiser took to his Twitter page to ridicule the Tesla boss while recalling when gold bug Peter Schiff described Bitcoin as “intrinsically worthless” after he lost access to his BTC wallet.

“Who’s the bigger idiot?” Keiser asked.

Who’s the bigger idiot? pic.twitter.com/YopCoat33W

— 🍊💊 Max Keiser (@maxkeiser) May 16, 2021

Aside from Keiser, other Bitcoin proponents such as Michael Saylor replied to Tesla’s CEO:

The world needs a decentralized, secure, deflationary store of value like #Bitcoin much more than it needs the more centralized, less secure, inflationary medium of exchange that you describe above.

— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) May 16, 2021