Well, it's been a tough ride for Tesla and Bitcoin. But that is no longer the case.

Mercurial Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced today (May 12) on Twitter that the automaker will no longer accept bitcoin as payment for its cars. Tesla will also stop selling bitcoin, which occurred earlier this year.

The reason? Musk said he is concerned about the impact of bitcoin on the environment." We are concerned about the rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels to mine and trade bitcoin." "Coal, in particular, is the worst emitter of all fuels."

It is good that both Elon Musk and Tesla have acknowledged the uncomfortable environmental realities regarding bitcoin mining and trading, but it took time. After all, the raison d'etre of automakers is to build cars that rely on alternative fuels.

Still, it is an abrupt shift for the company. The company only began using bitcoin to pay for cars in late March, another move that Musk announced on Twitter. Bitcoin sales also accounted for $101 million of Tesla's profits last quarter, and the company sold 10% of its holdings.

It is fair to say that the market has not reacted well to this change of heart about bitcoin; according to Coindesk, just before Musk's tweet, bitcoin was worth $54,602.77. As of this writing, its value has dropped to $51,846.91.

Indeed, it has been an interesting week for Musk and cryptocurrencies. The Tesla CEO appeared on Saturday Night Live over the weekend and joked that Dogecoin is a "hustle." As a result, the cryptocurrency's value plummeted by 30%.

Tesla has not given up on cryptocurrencies entirely. Musk has said that the company will use bitcoin again "as soon as mining moves to more sustainable energy." The Tesla CEO also promised to explore other cryptocurrencies that use a fraction of bitcoin's energy.

And Dogecoin could be one of them; not only does Dogecoin use far less energy than Bitcoin, but Musk earlier this week asked his 53 million Twitter followers if the option to buy a Tesla with Doge asked if they wanted it. About 3.9 million people voted, with 78.2% in favor of the proposal.