March 3, 2021
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As disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla has acquired $1.5 billion USD in bitcoin cryptocurrency and may begin to accept it as payment for its products. In the filing, Tesla states that it expects “to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for [its] products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which [it] may or may not liquidate upon receipt.”
The purchase comes after the company updated its investment policy in January. The policy provides Tesla with “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on [its] cash”. It permits the company to invest a portion of cash that is not needed to maintain operations in certain specified alternative reserve assets.
Shortly after the investment was announced, the price of bitcoin rose to an all-time high. This comes after Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, added “#bitcoin” to his Twitter profile, also causing a rise in price. He removed the hashtag a few days later, but these events demonstrate both Tesla and Musk’s powerful influence over the cryptocurrency.
Author: Brennan Caldwell