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.”
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.
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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:
“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.
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.
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