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- Elon Musk announced today in a filing with the SEC that Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.
- Tesla will also accept Bitcoin as a payment method.
What just happened should probably go down in the Bitcoin history books. As CNBC reports, the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, has bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. After weeks of speculation and hints from Musk about “supporting” Bitcoin, it is now a reality. This is revealed in a filing by Tesla with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
As the form states, Tesla is buying Bitcoin for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.” In addition to the purchase, Tesla also stated that it will begin accepting Bitcoin as payment in exchange for its products immediately. The filling states:
In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. 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.
A few minutes after the news, Musk’s renewed influence on the Bitcoin price was unmistakable. The latter exploded to a new all-time high of $43,800 in minutes.
The Tesla x Bitcoin rumors are coming true
The move should come as no surprise to many members of the crypto community. After Musk had already made several positive comments about Bitcoin via Twitter in the past, the Tesla CEO changed his Twitter bio to “#Bitcoin” on January 29.
Since then, the rumors and speculations reached a new level. A few days ago, the Tesla CEO addressed the rumors in an interview on Clubhouse and indirectly confirmed the purchase, although he avoided a direct confirmation.
During the interview, Musk explained that he has been watching the cryptocurrency since 2013, when many of his friends introduced him to it. Musk continued by saying that he is “late to the party.” In addition, the Tesla CEO stated that Bitcoin is a “good thing” and that he expects mainstream adoption:
I am a supporter of Bitcoin. I am late to the party but a supporter. I think, Bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by traditional finance people.
