According to a filing with the SEC, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, and plans to accept it as payment for company products.

• Tesla revealed in an SEC filing on Monday that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.
• The company said it will start accepting bitcoin as payment for its products.
• CEO Elon Musk has talked up bitcoin and dogecoin memes on Twitter in recent days.

The car manufacturer said it bought bitcoin for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash,” per the filing.

Additionally, Tesla also said it will start accepting payments in bitcoin in due course. This unprecedented development makes Tesla the first major automaker to accept bitcoin as payment.

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The move raised immediate questions around CEO Elon Musk’s behaviour on Twitter, who has been talking up bitcoin and especially dogecoin by posting characteristically cryptic messages and memes.

Bitcoin prices surged to new highs Monday following Tesla’s announcement, reaching a price of at $43,800. Tesla shares also shot up over 2% in premarket trading. Tesla warned investors of the volatility of bitcoin’s price in its SEC filing.

Tesla’s move Monday represents an investment of a significant percentage of its cash in bitcoin. The company had more than $19 billion in cash and cash equivalents on hand at the end of 2020, according to its most recent filing.

Following this development, bitcoin is in the midst of becoming a universally recognised asset as the early majority recognises its properties as a store of value.

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