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Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, says will soon accept them as payment

The value of a single bitcoin climbed on Monday to nearly $44,000 after Tesla's announcement. File Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE
The value of a single bitcoin climbed on Monday to nearly $44,000 after Tesla's announcement. File Photo by Maxim Shipenkov/EPA-EFE

Feb. 8 (UPI) -- Electric vehicle and energy company Tesla said Monday it has invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin and will soon accept the cryptocurrency as payment for some of its products.

The company, founded and headed by entrepreneur Elon Musk, detailed the policy change in a regulatory filing.

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"We updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility," Tesla wrote in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets. Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy."

Tesla said it expects to accept bitcoin payments "in the near future."

"I do at this point think bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of bitcoin," Musk said last week.

The value of one bitcoin reached all-time highs on Monday after Tesla's filing. Early Monday, the value of one bitcoin rose to nearly $44,000, up from about $30,400 at one point in late January.

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