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Tesla invests $1.5B in cryptocurrency as future purchases using Bitcoin are coming

It appears that Tesla is indeed serious about encouraging customers to use Bitcoin to buy their vehicles in the future. This was suggested in a recently submitted Form 10-K that Tesla filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.

The electric car manufacturer announced in its filing that in January it had obtained $1.5 billion in Bitcoins, and that it plans to embrace the cryptocurrency in the foreseeable future as a payment option. Tesla’s update promptly sent Bitcoin prices up over 12% to about $43,394, a rise of almost 9% in early trading.

“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,” Tesla wrote, later adding that “digital assets may be subject to volatile market prices, which may be unfavorable at the time when we want or need to liquidate them.”

The update comes in the midst of regular posts by Elon Musk on his Twitter account about cryptocurrencies. Although Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency created as a joke, has been involved in most of Musk’s cryptocurrency-related posts so far, the Tesla CEO incited speculation when he briefly updated his Twitter profile with a #bitcoin hashtag. Musk also later tweeted, “In retrospect, it was inevitable.”

The CEO confirmed earlier this month that he supports Bitcoin in a session on the Clubhouse drop-in audio conference app. “I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,” Musk said.

Allowing customers to buy their Teslas through Bitcoin will further highlight the manufacturer of electric cars as a forward-looking business that has its pulse in emerging trends. This is very much in line with the character of Tesla, given that the company is proud to be at the cutting edge of tech, both in terms of its vehicles and in the ways they can be bought.

Read Tesla’s Form 10-K here.

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