Tesla will 'most likely' restart accepting bitcoin as payments, says Musk

FILE PHOTO: Representations of virtual currency bitcoin are seen in front of Tesla logo in this illustration taken, February 9, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic

(Reuters) - Electric-car maker Tesla Inc will most likely restart accepting bitcoin as payments once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy used to mine the currency, Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said at a conference on Wednesday.

Bitcoin was up 8% at $32,160.16, while ether surged 11.6% to $1,993.36. Tesla's shares were down 0.8% at $655.30 in extended trading.