Elon Musk splits from Cathie Wood’s Ark on Bitcoin environmental cost

Two of the world’s most high-profile cryptocurrency advocates are suddenly at odds over the environmental impact of Bitcoin.

With his surprise announcement that Tesla Inc. would suspend vehicle purchases using the biggest digital currency, Elon Musk became the most prominent voice yet to draw attention to the carbon-emitting energy sources used to sustain Bitcoin’s decentralized network.

The billionaire’s about-face came just three weeks after he appeared to endorse research from Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management LLC asserting that Bitcoin mining could end up being good for the planet by incentivizing renewable power.