Palo Alto, California - Tech billionaire Elon Musk is once again supporting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.

In comments at the industry conference "The B Word" on Wednesday, Elon Musk (50) reiterated that electric carmaker Tesla remains open-minded towards Bitcoin despite environmental concerns over high power consumption.

He said Tesla would very likely accept Bitcoin as payment again in future. He also said his company SpaceX owns Bitcoins and has no plans to sell them.

However, Musk stressed again that the environmental footprint of Bitcoin must improve.

During mining, as the energy-intensive process of generating Bitcoin is known, at least 50% of electricity used should be renewable, he reiterated.

Other prominent cryptocurrency fans including Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey and Ark Invest's Cathie Wood also spoke at the conference.

The cryptocurrency market has taken a battering lately and reacted to Musk's statements with strong price increases. The Bitcoin price shot up to $32,800 at times. It had fallen below the $30,000 mark on Tuesday. Ethereum and Dogecoin also made strong gains.

In February, Musk announced Tesla had invested in Bitcoin on a large scale. He said the firm would soon accept payments using it, but backtracked a few months later, citing environmental concerns. The reversal weighed heavily on Bitcoin's price.

Musk said at the Wednesday conference he had no plans to part with his Bitcoins, and added that if the price fell he would also lose money.