Tesla Invests $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, Plans to Accept BTC Payments

Tesla Invests $1.5 Billion in Bitcoin, Plans to Accept BTC Payments

Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion of Bitcoin, according to a 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which was first reported by Crowdfund Insider.

The massive Bitcoin investment by the electric vehicle maker prompted the cryptocurrency’s price to jump 7 percent, taking it past $43,000 for the first time in its history.

Under the SEC filing, Tesla said it could “acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term.” Importantly, the company also revealed it is working towards allowing Tesla customers to buy cars via Bitcoin payments.

The filing says that “digital assets have been in the past and may continue to be highly volatile, including as a result of various associated risks and uncertainties.” The EV automaker said it views Bitcoin as being highly liquid.

Big step towards widespread Bitcoin, cryptocurrency acceptance

As Crowdfund Insider writes, Tesla is not the only company currently holding Bitcoin, though it may be the highest-profile publicly-traded company to make such a large investment in crypto.

report by Reuters cites several analysts saying the move by Tesla may prove to be a game changer for the currency.

“I think we will see an acceleration of companies looking to allocate to Bitcoin now that Tesla has made the first move,” explains Eric Turner, vice president of market intelligence at cryptocurrency research and data firm Messari.

“One of the largest companies in the world now owns Bitcoin and by extension, every investor that owns Tesla (or even just an S&P 500 fund) has exposure to it as well.”

Musk frequently comments on cryptocurrency on Twitter — most recently he helped meme-inspired Dogecoin reach new heights.

Only a week ago, in an appearance on exclusive social network Clubhouse, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Bitcoin was “on the verge” of being more widely accepted as a viable form of currency by the general public.

Tesla’s massive investment, and its announcement that it will likely soon accept Bitcoin payments, brings the cryptocurrency a large step closer to that widespread usage.

Post courtesy of Interesting Engineering

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