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- Tesla is now offering Bitcoin as a payment option to its US customers.
- The Elon Musk-led company will retain the paid BTC and not convert it.
It was only in early February that Elon Musk revealed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that electric carmaker Tesla had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and plans to accept BTC as a form of payment. As Musk announced via Twitter an hour ago, Musk is now making good on that promise.
The company’s entire fleet – Model S, Model Y, Model 3 and Model X – can now be purchased using Bitcoin. Musk also announced that Tesla is using “only internal and open source software” and is “directly operating a Bitcoin node.” Thus, Tesla joins the global network of peer-to-peer operators that host and synchronize the Bitcoin blockchain.
Furthermore, Musk also revealed that Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained and not converted into fiat currency. Conversely, this means that Tesla wants to further increase its Bitcoin holdings.
Initially, only U.S. customers will be able to buy a Tesla via Bitcoin. However, the service is to be made available to customers outside the US “before the end of this year”.
Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.
Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
The impact of the news was at least slightly felt at the time of writing. With the announcement, the BTC price jumped from $54,600 to $56,100.
