It is official. Tesla is a Bitcoin bull.
On Monday, the electric carmaker announced that it had purchased around $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin tokens in January. In its filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm admitted that it changed its investment policies to use a portion of its cash reserves to buy alternative assets, including cryptocurrencies, gold bullion, and gold-focused exchange-traded funds.
“Thereafter,” the Tesla filing read, “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.”
The paper also detailed Tesla’s plans to use Bitcoin as a form of payment for its products in the near future. Nonetheless, it clarified that its decision on the matter would depend on “applicable laws and initially on a limited basis.”
Bitcoin Price Explodes to ATH
The BTC/USD exchange rate exploded as soon as the Tesla news broke into the wire. The pair surged to its new record high of $44,900 after rising by more than 13 percent in just four hours of trading, leading many analysts to predict an extended bull run towards $50,000 in the sessions ahead.
Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior commodity strategist, Mike McGlone, stated that Bitcoin market cap could hit $1 trillion in the future based on Tesla’s announcement only, adding that the carmaker’s decision to buy cryptocurrencies as a reserve asset is “a stepping stone similar to onboarding by PayPal in October.”
“[It] points to about $50,000 as the next resistance,”
Mr. McGlone said.
Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, a firm that holds more than 71,079 BTC, which costs $3.5 billion at the current exchange rates, earlier stated that Tesla’s cryptocurrency adoption would pave the way for other major firms to do the same.
Yashu Gola is a Mumbai-based finance journalist. He is profoundly active in the bitcoin space since 2014 – and has contributed to several cryptocurrency media outlets, including CoinChapter, NewsBTC, FxDailyReport, Bitcoinist, and CCN. Academically, Yashu holds a bachelor's in information technology, with majors in data structures and C++ programming language. He has also won the 'Atulya Award' for his efforts towards raising $100,000 for an India-based farming project.
No time to read? Crypto articles too technical? Only want the facts?
[…] economist Nouriel Roubini launched another scathing attack on Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency gained entry into the Fortune 500 carmaker Tesla’s balance sheet as an alternative reserve […]
[…] Bitcoin’s current bull run has been sparked by the news that Tesla purchased $1.5 billion wort… of the asset in January. The electric vehicle company also hinted that it will soon begin accepting BTC as a form of payment for its products. […]
[…] weeks ago, US carmaker Tesla disclosed in its securities filings that it holds $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. The Fortune 500 […]
[…] the news of Tesla purchasing $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, many have wondered which major institution will be the next to take the leap into the crypto […]
[…] on Monday, US carmaker Tesla revealed in its securities filing that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin units as an alternative to its cash reserves. On that day, the BTC/USD exchange rate jumped by […]
[…] across the cryptocurrency markets after Tesla, the world’s best-selling electric carmaker, revealed its $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin […]
[…] Monday Tesla announced that it has bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin. Saying in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it purchased the […]