Tesla invests $1.5 billion in Bitcoin (BTC)

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Written on Feb 8, 2021

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In a SEC filling Monday, Tesla said it has bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC)
The EV giant also said it expects to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment
Bitcoin price soared over 10% on this news while shares of Tesla are up nearly 3% in pre-open Monday

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) announced today it has bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) to achieve “more flexibility” and to “further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.”

Learn: how to buy bitcoin instantly
Read more: best places to buy bitcoin

Musk strikes again

In addition to buying Bitcoin, the EV giant also said it expects 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,” according to the today’s SEC filling.

The company reported it has nearly $20 billion in cash at the end of the last year, with the latest Bitcoin investment translating into the company spending over 7% of its cash reserves to buy BTC.

Bitcoin (BTC) price soared over 10% on this news while shares of Tesla are up nearly 3% in pre-market trading Monday.

“As part of the policy, which was duly approved by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds and other assets as specified in the future.

“Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term. Moreover, 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,” it is said in the filling.

This move doesn’t come as a major surprise as Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk already hinted before it may invest in cryptocurrencies.

In December, Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, sent a tweet to Musk:

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.

— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) December 20, 2020

“Are such large transactions even possible?” – Musk replied.

This month, Elon Musk promoted the Dogecoin (DOGE) cryptocurrency on a daily basis amid the WSB frenzy, including multiple tweets on Sunday.

???? Who let the Doge out ????

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2021

Summary

In a major move announced today, Tesla announced it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Moreover, the EV giant said it would start accepting bitcoin as a payment method.