Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla announced on Monday that it has purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. The company stated in the same announcement that it would begin accepting the cryptocurrency has payment for its cars.
The news came via a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “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,” Tesla wrote. “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.”
The move makes Tesla the first automaker to accept bitcoin as payment and one of the largest companies in any industry to do so.
Bitcoin is the best-known and most popular form of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that are secured through cryptography, or coding, and only exist on the internet. They’re not owned by any central government but rather their price is determined by the supply and demand of their market.
Most cryptocurrencies rely on blockchain technology, an online ledger of all transactions across peer-to-peer networks. Like the US dollar, cryptocurrencies are a medium of exchange designed to let you store, send and receive assets without any third parties such as banks or credit card companies.
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