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Former President Donald Trump’s photograph is seen on a digital display outside of the venue ahead of his afternoon keynote speech on the final day of the Bitcoin 2024 conference at Music City Center July 27, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. 

Jon Cherry | Getty Images News | Getty Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A block away from the neon-lit buzz of Lower Broadway, where honky-tonk pours onto the city’s main drag at all hours, stands the Music City Center, a venue that’s hosted everything from craft beer conferences to a performance by the legendary Dolly Parton.

In late July, the complex filled up for something entirely different. It was the biggest bitcoin conference of the year, and the headline act was none other than former President Donald Trump.

For nearly 50 minutes on a Saturday afternoon in the country music capital, the Republican nominee for president extolled the virtues of bitcoin and spelled out what a second Trump administration would mean for the crypto industry to a packed crowd of conferencegoers who’d spent hours getting through the Secret Service’s tight security protocol.

“If crypto is going to define the future, I want it to be mined, minted and made in the USA,” Trump declared, in a message targeted to the industry’s bitcoin miners, who secure the network by running large banks of high-powered machines. “We will be creating so much electricity that you’ll be saying, ‘Please, please, President, we don’t want any more electricity. We can’t stand it!'”

The speech, which read like it was straight out of a bitcoiner’s bible, was quite the about-face for an ex-president who three years earlier had dismissed the cryptocurrency as a “scam.” Trump was, no doubt, lured by the potential of huge amounts of donor money from an industry that sees itself as under constant attack from the Biden-Harris administration and the heavy regulatory hand of SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

Trump told the audience in Nashville that he’d raised $25 million in crypto-related funds, a number that CNBC hasn’t been able to independently verify.

Turning Trump from a skeptic into a sudden bitcoin evangelist took the work, behind closed doors, of a small army of bitcoiners and other crypto advocates who were able to maneuver their way into the candidate’s inner circle. In particular, three friends in Puerto Rico came together to try and convince the Republican presidential hopeful of bitcoin’s value, and to eventually make that position loud and clear to a key audience in Nashville.

Donald Trump during his speech at the 2024 Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, TN.

The Washington Post | The Washington Post | Getty Images

In bitcoin parlance, Trump was “orange-pilled.” It’s a play on the phrase “red pill” from the 1999 film, “The Matrix.” In the movie, the main character, Neo (played by Keanu Reeves), is given a choice of taking a red pill, which offers access to the unsettling truth about the world, or a blue pill, which signifies a false but far more comforting version of reality.

Orange pill refers to bitcoin’s official color and represents a person’s dedication to bitcoin over fiat currencies.

Within the matrix of confidantes, friends, family members, and colleagues united in their mission to orange-pill Trump were the trio of Puerto Rico residents: Amanda Fabiano, the shadow chief of bitcoin miners; Tracy Hoyos-López, a former California prosecutor; and David Bailey, CEO of media group BTC Inc. and organizer of the conference in Nashville.

Earlier this year, Bailey promised to turn out $100 million and 5 million votes for Trump. CNBC is told an update on fundraising numbers is coming soon.

Over Memorial Day weekend at a steak house called Bottles in the Guaynabo suburb of San Juan, the three began mapping out a plan as they shared family-style dishes.

Here’s how Fabiano recounted the initial exchange to CNBC.

“We were at dinner with a bunch of people, and David was like, ‘Hey, I’ve been talking to the administration, and I want to do a roundtable on mining, Can we chat this weekend?'” Fabiano said.

Bailey had spent months in dialogue with the Trump campaign, swapping bitcoin briefs and messages. He was about to make the 1,600-mile trek to meet the former president for the first time at Trump Tower in Manhattan, and was keen to deliver details of a potentially lucrative fundraiser and a miners working group featuring some of the top CEOs in the industry. It would serve as a prelude for what was to come in Nashville.

Hoyos-López, Bailey’s neighbor, had been recently orange-pilled, and was anxious to help out any way she could in getting Trump to Nashville. She happened to have a contact in the Trump orbit who was willing to make an introduction. Meanwhile, Fabiano’s history in bitcoin mining was important in giving the group street cred.

“Without Amanda, we wouldn’t have had the legitimacy to sell that this is a legitimate business,” Hoyos-López said. “She is the mining queen. She’s got all the miners.”

Hoyos-López added that many miners are former Wall Street executives.

“If you want to be taken seriously, you have to take serious people,” she said. “And it doesn’t get any more serious than miners.”

The Trump campaign didn’t respond to multiple inquiries about Trump’s latest crypto fundraising stats, his changed views on bitcoin and the events leading up to his appearance in Nashville.

Tracy Hoyos-López and Amanda Fabiano snapped a quick photo before smartphones were confiscated ahead of the crypto industry roundtable with Donald Trump in Music City Center in Nashville.

Tracy Hoyos-López

‘Who would we put in the room?’

Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies are created by miners around the world running high-powered computers that collectively validate transactions and simultaneously create new tokens. Their massive physical presence shows up in the form of sprawling data centers across the globe and offers a tangible image for newbies to understand an otherwise abstract technology.

Fabiano described it as a natural fit “when thinking about how to explain bitcoin to Trump in a way that makes sense.”

Bitcoin often gets a bad rap for the amount of energy it consumes, which is just shy of how much power Egypt uses annually. But as mining requires tremendous amounts of energy, the industry is developing innovative methods of producing and sharing it.

Miners can partner with utilities in a way that allows them to return energy to the grid when there’s excessive demand. They’re also utilizing untapped sources of renewable energy, often concentrated in remote parts of the country, helping to create an economy in areas that would otherwise be dormant. That could all lead to the U.S. becoming a greater producer of energy, which is of particular importance to satisfy the needs of the artificial intelligence boom.

Bailey confirmed that he flew to New York to meet with Trump, but he wouldn’t share specifics about what was said in the meeting. What’s clear is that, soon thereafter, Trump agreed to host about a dozen crypto executives and experts for a 90-minute roundtable in a small tea room at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida.

That meeting took place in mid-June, two weeks after the dinner at Bottles.

To get Trump on board with the big shindig in Nashville, Bailey, Fabiano and Hoyos-López knew they needed the right mix of people to clearly explain the virtues of mining and to convince the nominee that donations would be large enough to make the event worth his time.

“It was like, Who would we put in the room? Who would be the best people to explain this, right? Who would be willing to put dollars up, kind of put their skin in the game? And that was how it all got started,” Fabiano said.

Those who committed to going pitched in $500,000 apiece to a fundraising committee, according to multiple attendees.

Fabiano, who had never previously been involved in politics or campaigning, said the biggest concern among prospective attendees was the fear of appearing partisan. She said ahead of the meeting there was “a prep call for agenda items.”

Fabiano put together a presentation for the Trump team with background material on the miners who would be at the Mar-a-Lago roundtable to show that, “We are real people, and we are real businesses, and you should take us seriously.”

With thunderstorms bearing down on the Atlantic coast, the Mar-a-Lago attendees, including representatives from Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital Holdings, Terawulf and Core Scientific, forfeited their smartphones to a Radio Frequency Identification pouch that blocked incoming and outgoing signals. From under a large chandelier, they listened to the former president engage on the nuances of America’s energy deficit, bitcoin mining, AI and competition with China.

“That roundtable really set off like, OK, this industry is real, and they’re showing up with dollars, and they’re showing up with like, actual smart things to say and agenda items that are important to America,” said Fabiano.

After years of facing political backlash, Fabiano said she was glad Trump took an active interest in “digging in and learning about why this industry is real” and “why we’re not a bunch of criminals.”

Fabiano and crew knew they weren’t starting from scratch with Trump.

Bailey started talks with the Trump camp in March. In April, Trump launched his latest nonfungible token collection on the Solana blockchain. In May, he became the first major presidential nominee to accept cryptocurrency donations. He’d started talking on the campaign trail about defending so-called self-custody of coins and vowed at the Libertarian National Convention in May to keep Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and “her goons” away from bitcoin holders.

In early June in San Francisco, technologists, crypto executives and venture capitalists paid up to $300,000 per ticket to join a Trump fundraiser that ultimately raised more than $12 million. The more Trump raised, the more he leaned into his newfound support.

BTC Inc. CEO David Bailey and industry liaison for the Bitcoin Advocacy Project, Tracy Hoyos-López, in the Bitcoin 2024 “war room” ahead of the industry roundtable with Donald Trump.

Tracy Hoyos-López

“There are a lot of people in Trump’s orbit that are fans of bitcoin,” said Bailey. “There are members of his family that are fans of bitcoin. Donald Trump has sold real estate for bitcoin. I just bought a pair of sneakers from him in bitcoin.”

Bailey said Trump’s journey from cynic to fan is relatable. He said Michael Saylor, the billionaire founder of MicroStrategy, was once a skeptic and that he’s been on a personal journey himself for 12 years.

“There is no necessarily single person who’s responsible for orange-pilling him,” Bailey said, of Trump. “I think in terms of him having a 180 on this topic, that is really a very natural thing.”

After months of dialogue with Trump and his aides, Bailey said he thinks the former president’s attraction to bitcoin is that it “represents a transformational opportunity for the country.”

“In that sense, I think it’s kind of a match made in heaven,” he said.

Getting to ‘yes’

Hoyos-López said the period between the Mar-a-Lago meeting in June and the Nashville conference late last month was “agonizing,” as the group waited for an answer.

The first “yes” from the Trump camp was to the meeting in Manhattan, and the news was delivered by phone to Hoyos-López while Bailey was in Japan. The conference was more than a month out. Hoyos-López said she jumped in her car and drove to Bailey’s house so she and his wife, Emily, could prepare the one suit he had in his closet.

“We couldn’t find any dry cleaners that would have this in time in Puerto Rico,” Hoyos-López said. “We ended up having to get super creative, like putting his suit in the dryer, putting his suit in the sun, steaming it.”

There was a lot of work to be done in a little amount of time.

Soon after the Mar-a-Lago roundtable, Trump said yes to Nashville.

“I’m a criminal attorney, I was a prosecutor, so I’m used to dealing with very big and very emotional moments, but not treating them as such,” Hoyos-López said. “While everyone is excited and celebrating, I’m like, ‘Alright, well, we need to sit down and figure out.'”

Three months earlier, Bailey’s wildest dream was to get Trump to Nashville. He talked about it often with his core group of friends in Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory with crypto-friendly policies, including huge tax breaks to those who spend at least 183 days on the island each year.

“Never in a million years, did we think we were going to be here,” Hoyos-López said. “Getting a presidential candidate to the Bitcoin Conference was definitely one of the coolest things that I probably will ever do in my life.”

At the conference, Hoyos-López, Fabiano, and Bailey worked to stage a second roundtable with Trump. They brought in a wider set of industry participants, including the Winklevoss twins, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick. Kid Rock, Billy Ray Cyrus and some top mining executives were also there, along with a smattering of politicians.

Attorney and bitcoiner Tracy Hoyos-López sat down with Donald Trump as part of an industry working group.

Tracy Hoyos-López

Trump, in his keynote, donned a blue-and-white-striped tie and an American flag pinned to the lapel of his navy blue suit. He declared that a Trump White House would “keep 100% of all the bitcoin the U.S. government currently holds or acquires into the future,” and said he would fire SEC Chair Gensler.

To Fabiano, Bailey, and Hoyos-López, the stakes couldn’t possibly be higher, as Democratic nominee Kamala Harris gains momentum in the polls.

“Our industry as a whole will cease to exist if Trump doesn’t win,” Hoyos-López said. “There are some rumors out there that Harris is trying to change her stance on crypto as a whole, and to appear more friendly, but I just don’t believe anything that they say.”

Hoyos-López said she’s now focused on getting out votes and rallying bitcoiners who she says are “single-issue voters.”

“Yes, the money that you get in is very important,” she said. “But what really matters at the end of the day is votes.”

Less than a week after leaving Nashville, Fabiano, Hoyos-López, and Bailey were back together closer to home to process all that had happened. They met at a restaurant called Santaella and shared a mix of Puerto Rican tapas, including a personal favorite — goat cheese quesadilla with nuts and honey on top.

“We just sat down and had a conversation about like, ‘Holy crap. We did this,'” Hoyos-Lopez said. “We created the table, and we brought everyone to the table, which is literally what this community is all about.”

WATCH: Trump caters to crypto crowd

Trump caters to crypto crowd

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‘Time to act now’: The push to develop Europe’s blockbuster rare earths discoveries

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4 hours ago

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November 28, 2025

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‘Time to act now’: The push to develop Europe’s blockbuster rare earths discoveries

In this aerial view, the Kiruna Kyrka church is transported by road to a new location on August 20, 2025 in Kiruna, Sweden. The church, weighing 672,4 tons, is being transported as a whole to a new location 3 km away to avoid damages caused by LKAB´s iron ore mine.

Bernd Lauter | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Two Nordic mining companies at the heart of Europe’s push to achieve resource security are taking novel — albeit very different — approaches. One is pursuing the concept of an “invisible mine,” while the other is taking on one of the world’s most radical relocation projects.

It forms part of a strategic shift for the European Union. Under its forthcoming “RESourceEU” initiative, the 27-nation bloc intends to step up its efforts to secure access to domestic sources of critical raw materials in both the short- and long-term.

The plan, which intends to boost investment in strategic projects, is designed to help break China’s long-held mineral dominance.

Alf Reistad, CEO of mining firm Rare Earths Norway, told CNBC that there’s been a clear shift in terms of how both domestic and EU policymakers are thinking about mineral supply chains.

“What we see now is really a sense of urgency. Everybody is speaking about the need for actions,” Reistad told CNBC by video call. “It is really the time to act now. We have always said that we are too early until we are too late.”

In June last year, Rare Earths Norway announced the discovery of Europe’s largest known rare earths deposit, reflecting what was seen as a watershed moment in the region’s pursuit of strategic autonomy.

It’s estimated that the firm’s Fen Carbonatite Complex, situated in the small industrial town of Ulefoss in southern Norway, contains 8.8 million metric tons of total rare earth oxides (TREOs).

It’s not a given that this is a business case. It looks like it is for us at the moment, but it’s not something that you’d say, ‘oh it’s a no brainer, just run for it.’

Niklas Johansson

Spokesperson at LKAB

Notably, roughly 1.5 million tons of these TREOs are thought to contain highly prized magnet-related rare earths, such as neodymium and praseodymium. These are critical components for a range of modern technologies, from electric vehicles and wind turbines to robotics and defense applications.

Rare Earths Norway said it is currently in close cooperation with the local municipality and national authorities over a zoning plan and hopes to present a prefeasibility study by the end of the year.

Ultimately, however, it faces a long road ahead to deliver on its rare earths potential. The company is targeting the delivery of rare earths to market by the first half of the 2030s.

The Enhanced Games?

To help reach these targets, Rare Earths Norway has been lobbying for domestic and EU policymakers to consider fast-track permitting and price guarantees, saying such measures will be pivotal to its success.

Reistad compared the firm’s push to deliver on its resource potential to participating in the Enhanced Games, a controversial event that allows athletes to take banned performance enhancing drugs under medical supervision.

“If you look now at what you see with China and the U.S., they are competing in a kind of Enhanced Games, and it’s not possible for us to compete at all if we have no security,” Reistad said.

“You see that the actions that have been made by [U.S. President Donald] Trump. He has been fast and bold. So, if there is no level playing field then it will not be possible to come true with this project,” he added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers her speech during a debate on the new 2028-2034 Multi-annual Financial Framework at the European Parliament in Brussels on November 12, 2025.

Nicolas Tucat | Afp | Getty Images

A spokesperson for the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, told CNBC that the bloc has a “clear vision” to ensure the secure and sustainable access to raw materials. By 2030, the bloc wants to extract 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of what it consumes each year.

The EU is also aiming to limit reliance on any single external supplier to 65%.

An ‘invisible mine’

To develop its discovery, Rare Earths Norway is planning to extract rare earths from its Fen site using an “invisible mine” concept to avoid surface disruption and environmental impact.

This concept involves drilling a long, narrow tunnel diagonally beneath the village of Ulefoss and backfilling extracted voids with waste materials.

“It’s important that people on top of the deposit are safe,” Reistad said, who compared the concept to that of a “Kinder Egg.”

“So, if you have seen in the project by LKAB in Kiruna, they have to move the town. We need to prevent that, and its approximately 300 properties on top of the deposit and a lot of people living there,” he added.

Reistad said the company has had “very good” dialogue with the people living on top of the rare earths deposit. Early community surveys have reportedly shown strong local support for the project, alongside some concerns about stability and waste management.

An Arctic city on the move

Swedish state-owned mining firm LKAB, which operates far above the Arctic Circle in the city of Kiruna, is taking a completely different approach to Europe’s growing appetite for raw materials.

The company announced in January 2023 what was then considered to be Europe’s largest known deposit of rare earths, describing the discovery as “good news” for Sweden, Europe and the climate.

Rain falls as a general view taken on August 21, 2025 shows the LKAB iron ore mine and a sign bearing the company’s logo in Kiruna, northern Sweden.

Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images

The discovery of the so-called Per Geijer deposit sits in close proximity to the world’s largest underground iron ore mine. Indeed, it is LKAB’s plans to expand its iron ore mine that has prompted the move of thousands of city residents to a brand-new city center.

The extensive urban relocation project received international attention in August, when workers successfully moved a 113-year-old wooden church five kilometers (3 miles) down the road over the course of two days.

Later that same month, LKAB announced that 6,000 more people and approximately 2,700 homes would be affected by the relocation. The transformation is estimated to come at a cost of 22.5 billion Swedish kronor ($2.4 billion).

Niklas Johansson, senior vice president of public affairs and external relations at LKAB, said the relocation is not related to the rare earths discovery, but rather the firm’s sprawling iron ore mine.

A worker is pictured in the underground tunnels of the LKAB iron ore mine in Kiruna, northern Sweden, on August 21, 2025.

Jonathan Nackstrand | Afp | Getty Images

Like Rare Earths Norway, LKAB’s Johansson said the company is currently in discussion with European lawmakers to ensure that it will be economically viable to develop its resources.

“We’ve already got the material up to the ground. That’s all been paid for by the iron ore. Still, it’s not a given that this is a business case. It looks like it is for us at the moment, but it’s not something that you’d say, ‘oh it’s a no brainer, just run for it,'” Johansson told CNBC by telephone.

“I also tell them that if it looks like this for us, who has most of the infrastructure and everything in place, how do you think it will look for others in Europe?”

Mineral sovereignty

Anthony Heron, deputy editor of the Arctic Institute think tank, said the projects overseen by Rare Earths Norway and LKAB are “strategically significant” because they represent some of the most credible paths to reduce Europe’s near total dependence on imported rare earths, especially from China.

“Estimates suggest the Norwegian Fen deposit could cover a sizeable share of future EU demand for rare earth minerals, and the exploration of Arctic deposits has been framed by analysts as pillars of Europe’s emerging ‘mineral sovereignty’ agenda,” Heron told CNBC by email.

“That aligns the Arctic squarely with the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, which has set targets for a minimum share of extraction to take place within Europe,” he added.

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Rad Power expands e-bike Black Friday Sale with more savings + lows from $999, Anker smart security devices 50% off, GE appliance, more

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15 hours ago

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November 27, 2025

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Rad Power expands e-bike Black Friday Sale with more savings + lows from 9, Anker smart security devices 50% off, GE appliance, more


Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! To celebrate the day, we’ve got another jam-packed edition of Green Deals, with plenty more that you can browse in our official Black Friday Green Deals hub here, encompassing all the sales/deals we’ve collected over the last few weeks that are still alive and well. Headlining today’s features is Rad Power’s expanded Black Friday Sale, which is seeing increased prices to new lows, like the RadExpand 5 Plus Folding e-bike at $1,399, among others. From there, we also have a large collection of Anker eufy solar cams, and other smart security devices starting from $50, as well as GE’s Profile Smart Electric Ventless Heat Pump Washer/Dryer Combo at $2,000, the next EcoFlow 48-hour flash sale, Aiper’s robot pool cleaners, smart composters, hydroponic gardens, and so much more waiting for you below. And don’t forget about the hangover deals that are collected together at the bottom of the page (and also in our Green Deals hub), like yesterday’s first post-launch price cuts on the Heybike Mars 3.0 and Ranger 3.0 Pro e-bikes, the Tesla universal EV charger retaining a $50 discount, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

Rad Power expands Black Friday e-bike lineup and increases savings to new lows starting from $999

Rad Power Bikes has expanded its Black Friday Sale with additional offers while retaining the previous lineup of new lows and more. Among the bunch, we’re seeing the biggest price cut yet on the RadExpand 5 Plus Folding e-bike at $1,399 shipped. Coming down from the full $1,899 price tag that it has spent much of 2025 keeping to, we’ve mostly seen a mix of free bundle offers (without price cuts) and occasional discounts as low as $1,699. Now, for Black Friday, this newer model is getting a larger-than-ever $500 markdown to a new all-time low price. Head below to learn more about it and the expanded/increased Rad Power Black Friday savings.

The Rad Power RadExpand 5 Plus comes as the latest iteration of the brand’s space-saving, folding series, able to condense down to 29 inches high by 25 inches wide by 41 inches long to fit inside closets, car trunks, on RVs, and more. The 750W rear hub motor is paired with a 720Wh battery to carry you for up to 60+ miles with its five PAS levels activated at up to 20 MPH top speeds (supported by a torque sensor). Among its updated features, you’ll be getting a hydraulic suspension fork alongside hydraulic disc brakes for smoother rides and greater stopping power. There’s also the puncture-resistant tires, fenders to go over top of them, a rear cargo rack for added versatility, an LED headlight, a brake-activated taillight, a Shimano 7-speed derailleur, a color display with a USB-C port, and more.

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With the brand going through financial turmoil, now’s your chance to cash in on some of Rad Power’s deep clearance-meets-Black Friday savings.

Rad Power’s full Black Friday Sale lineup:

anker eufy solar security camera outside in rain

Anker’s eufy solar security cameras, smart locks, more get up to 50% Black Friday savings to new lows starting from $50

With Amazon’s Black Friday Week Sale in full momentum, Anker’s official eufy storefront is offering up to 50% discounts across its lineup of smart security devices, and the best rate yet on the SoloCam S220 Wireless Solar Security Camera that starts from $49.99 shipped, while its 4-camera package is a great get for multi-point coverage at $179.99 shipped. Normally going for $100 without any discounts, we’ve seen the cost get taken down as low as $60 previously in the year, with this holiday deal bringing even more savings to the mix by cutting the price in half. You’ll save $50 off the going rate for a 50% markdown on the single-cam package, while the 4-camera kit is seeing a 36% cut of $100 – dropping both options to new all-time lows.

If you want to learn more about this model, or check out the full lineup of deals on other cameras, video doorbells, smart locks, and more – be sure to check out our original coverage of these Black Friday deals here.

woman doing laundry with GE 2-in-1 washer dryer

GE’s 2-in-1 Profile smart ventless electric washer/dryer combo with heat pump at $2,000 (Reg. $2,700)

As part of its Black Friday Appliance Sale, Best Buy is offering the GE Profile 4.8 Cubic-Foot Smart Combo Electric Washer & Dryer with Ventless Heat Pump at $1,999.99 shipped. While it carries a $2,999 MSRP direct from the brand, at Best Buy we normally see it starting lower at $2,700, with the discounts we’ve spotted over the year regularly dropping the rate between $2,200 and $2,000, with things having gone as low as $1,750 once this year back during July’s Prime Day event. You’re still looking at a solid $700 markdown off the going rate (and $999 off the MSRP) to land at the third-lowest price we have tracked. There are also alternate options in Samsung’s massive Black Friday Appliance Sale here to weigh your options.

If you want to learn more about this specific model, be sure to check out our original coverage of these savings here.

ecoflow delta pro power station outside with extra battery and solar panel
banner for Aiper robot pool cleaner black friday sale
Govee smart electric composter being used to make soil for garden
AeroGarden Harvest Elite 360 indoor hydroponic system

Best Fall EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.


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Tesla faces class action over Powerwall recall that leaves people with bricked batteries

Published

16 hours ago

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November 27, 2025

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Tesla faces class action over Powerwall recall that leaves people with bricked batteries

Sunrun residential solar battery storage

Image: Sunrun

Tesla’s poorly handled Powerwall 2 recall is now turning into a potential class action lawsuit over for leaving people with bricked batteries until Tesla replaces them.

We previously reported on Tesla recalling thousands of Powerwall 2 units built between 2020 and 2022 due to a fire risk. We noted several problems with it, as it took months between the recall in Australia and the US, despite the units being identical and affected by the same issue.

We also noted that Tesla has been aware of the problems for years and tried to sneakily replace some units rather than doing a broader recall.

Now, some affected Powerwall owners are also taking issue with how Tesla is handling the recall.

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Tesla’s ability to address issues via over-the-air (OTA) software updates is usually a massive advantage, but not everyone is happy with how Tesla is using its OTA capability in this case.

According to a new class action filing in the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division, that “fix” has left owners with expensive wall decorations instead of backup power systems.

The lawsuit, Brown v. Tesla, Inc., was filed yesterday. It alleges that rather than providing swift replacements for the potentially dangerous hardware, Tesla used its software backdoor to effectively shut down customer installations.

From the complaint:

“Rather than immediately providing full refunds or prompt replacement with non-defective units, Tesla has remotely accessed affected Powerwall 2 systems and discharged or limited their battery charge to near-zero levels to reduce the risk of overheating.”

The result, according to the filing, is that many owners have been “deprived of the core functions for which they purchased Powerwall 2, including backup power and energy storage.”

Imagine paying upwards of $8,000 for peace of mind during a grid outage, only to find out Tesla remotely drained your backup battery to 0% because it might otherwise catch fire.

The lawsuit further alleges that the actual physical replacement process is dragging out. The complaint argues that the replacement process “has been slow, burdensome, and incomplete,” leading to “lengthy periods” where consumers have partially or fully disabled units.

The core legal argument here is about merchantability. The plaintiffs argue that a home energy storage system that must be remotely “bricked” to prevent it from burning down a house is clearly “not fit for its ordinary purpose as a safe and reliable residential battery.”

Tesla has not yet commented on the suit or provided a timeline for when all affected customers will receive physical replacements.

Electrek’s Take

Ever since the first recall in Australia came out, I knew this thing would snowball into something much bigger.

In the Australian recall, Tesla noted that it was “considering compensating people” for revenue lost or higher utility bills due to Powerwalls being down for an extended period.

It looks like this class action lawsuit is trying to ensure that Tesla is not just considering it but actually does the right thing and compensates owners.

Tesla has up to 10,000 Powerwalls to replace in the US alone. We understand that this is a tremendously difficult task and it will take some time, but that’s not the fault of the customers and Tesla needs to own up to it.

Leaving customers in limbo with a dead battery on the wall, especially as we head into winter storm season in many parts of the US, is a massive customer service failure. Tesla needs to accelerate the replacement program and prioritize these recall replacements over new sales immediately.


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