Bitcoin tumbles to lowest since March 1: Binance under pressure as Musk backs out

Bitcoin slid to a 2-1/2-month low on Thursday after a regulatory probe into crypto exchange Binance added to pressure from Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk's reversing his stance on accepting the digital currency.

Bitcoin dropped to $45,700, the lowest since March 1, then steadied at $49,312 in Asia morning trade on Friday. The world's largest cryptocurrency fell 17% on Wednesday following Musk's remarks that Tesla would stop accepting the digital token as payment for its electric cars for environmental reasons.

"Environmental matters are an incredibly sensitive subject right now, and Tesla's move might serve as a wake-up call to businesses and consumers using bitcoin, who hadn't hitherto considered its carbon footprint," Laith Khalaf, an analyst at AJ Bell, said. Bitcoin remains about 70% higher for the year and is more than 1,000% higher than its 2020 low of $3,850.

On Wednesday, ethereum hit a record high of $4,380.64.Tesla's announcement on Feb. 8 that it had bought $1.5 billion of bitcoin and would accept it as payment for its electric vehicles has been one factor behind the digital currency's surge this year. Musk has faced pressure over bitcoin's environmental impact. The cryptocurrency relies on computers competing to solve elaborate math problems, which use huge amounts of electricity.

"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 tweeted. Musk's comments roiled markets even though he said Tesla would not sell any bitcoin and would resume accepting it as soon as "mining" for it transitioned to more sustainable energy.