Bitcoin hit record highs on the news — and it comes after repeated pro-crypto tweets from Elon Musk in recent weeks.
Tesla has revealed that it has bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The announcement is an extremely bullish development to say the least. Bitcoin broke record highs as investors digested the news, hitting $42,541.78 at the time of writing.
In the filing, Tesla explained that it has updated its investment policy “to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.”
This means that the electric vehicle manufacturer is reserving the right to invest in “certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds and other assets as specified in the future.”
Confirming that Tesla now owns $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, the filing added:
“We expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.”
The filing went on to warn that the price of digital assets is known to be highly volatile — and acknowledged Tesla’s financial condition “may be harmed” if prices fall.
In recent weeks, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has revealed that he is a supporter of Bitcoin but admitted that he was “late to the party.”
Back in December, Musk had a Twitter conversation with MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, whose company has invested heavily in Bitcoin.
Saylor had tweeted Musk to say: “If you want to do your shareholders a $100 billion favor, convert the $TSLA balance sheet from USD to #BTC. Other firms on the S&P 500 would follow your lead & in time it would grow to become a $1 trillion favor.”
Musk replied: “Are such large transactions even possible?”
This thread may have served as a precursor to Tesla’s decision — and in recent weeks, Musk’s Twitter feed has been dominated with pro-crypto posts on Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
