Bitcoin plunges 17% after Elon Musk tweets on Tesla not accepting cryptocurrency

The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency dropped from around $54,819 to $45,700, its lowest since March 1, in just under two hours following the tweet

Bitcoin plunged as much as 17% after Elon Musk tweeted Tesla Inc had stopped accepting bitcoin to purchase its vehicles due to climate concerns on Thursday morning.

The price of the world's largest cryptocurrency dropped from around $54,819 to $45,700, its lowest since March 1, in just under two hours following the tweet.

"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," Musk wrote.

Tesla's announcements earlier this year that it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and that it would accept it as payment for cars has been one factor behind the digital tokens' surging price this year.

Musk added that the Tesla would not sell any bitcoin and would resume accepting bitcoin as soon as mining transitioned to more sustainable energy.