Elon Musk Buys $1.5 Billion Worth Of Bitcoin As His Company Tesla Plans to Accept Cryptocurrency As Payment

Tesla announced on Monday that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, according to a filing with the SEC.

The company said it bought the bitcoin for "more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash," according to the filing. In addition to the purchase, Tesla said it would start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products as well.

Additionally, Tesla said it expects to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis.

The filing added that “digital assets have been in the past and may continue to be highly

volatile, including as a result of various associated risks and uncertainties.” Tesla said they view Bitcoin as highly liquid. Tesla added standard risk statements to the filing.

Tesla is not the only company holding Bitcoin as multiple Fintechs now hold Bitcoin but Tesla may be the highest-profile publicly-traded company to commit to the crypto. Recently, Bitcoin has experienced new all-time highs and currently trades over $42,000.

Elon Musk, founder of Tesla, has frequently commented on crypto including Bitcoin and more recently Dogecoin. His comments have been seen as fueling volatility in crypto as his Twitter account holds over 46 million followers.

Musk recently hosted a survey about Dogecoin where over 2.4 million people voted Dogecoin as going to the moon.