Elon Musk says his company Tesla will stop accepting Bitcoin as payment for their vehicles, because of its environmental impact.
The cryptocurrency requires an energy-intensive computing process, which consumes a large amount of electricity.
The value of Bitcoin fell by more than 7% after the electric car maker switched its position following pressure from green groups and some investors.
Mr Musk tweeted that the firm is "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions".
Tesla & Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/YSswJmVZhP
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 12, 2021
He said: "Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment".
He added that the firm will use Bitcoin again "as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy".
Figures from the University of Cambridge indicate Bitcoin's total electricity consumption per year is more than that of countries such as Sweden and Argentina.
Similar environmental concerns have been raised following the recent spike in popularity for NFT (non-fungible token) artwork, which is driven by similar technology to cryptocurrencies.
Tesla's decision comes only two months after the firm said it would start accepting Bitcoin payments for its electric vehicles.
Mr Musk has been seen as a high-profile public advocate of cryptocurrencies.
The billionaire - who also runs SpaceX - used his recent Saturday Night Life appearance to joke about the so-called 'meme coin' dogecoin, after frequently tweeting about it in recent months.
