Tesla bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and is thinking about letting people pay for their vehicles with it

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Tesla is betting big on Bitcoin, with a recent SEC filing noting that the company has purchased $1.5 billion in the digital currency.

In the filing, Tesla notes the reason for the purchase is to “provide [Tesla] with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on [its] cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity.”

According to CNBC, the company had more than $19 billion cash on hand at the end of 2020.

The SEC filing also notes that the company is looking to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for its lineup of electric vehicles.

This new announcement does make a lot of sense if you look at CEO Elon Musk’s recent tweets. He’s talked about Dogecoin and put #Bitcoin into his Twitter bio. That last thing actually pushed up Bitcoin prices almost instantly, before they eventually settled again.

It will be interesting to see if anything happens from Musk’s Bitcoin push. This wouldn’t be the first time he was investigated for possibly manipulating things surrounding Tesla.

In 2018, the SEC sued him for “false and misleading statements” surrounding stock prices. That ended with a $20 million fine for Tesla and another $20 million fine for Musk.

What do you think? Surprised Tesla is pushing hard into Bitcoin? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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