According to the quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tesla is considering restarting “the practice of transacting in cryptocurrencies.” The world’s biggest manufacturer of electric vehicles has stopped accepting Bitcoin after Tesla’s CEO and founder Elon Musk criticized the digital currency for being bad for the environment.
Key takeaways:
- Tesla was accepting Bitcoin for only about a month and a half earlier this year – Tesla buyers could purchase electric vehicles with BTC between March and May. Additionally, the company also acquired $1.5 billion worth of BTC in the first quarter of 2021.
- After Musk publicly criticized the proof-of-work BTC network for consuming too much energy, the company suspended digital currency payments. Despite his criticism, Musk clarified that BTC would again be accepted as soon as renewable energy sources become the predominant source of BTC’s energy supply.
- According to September’s filing with the SEC, the company is open to restarting cryptocurrency transactions. Furthermore, Tesla added that it believes “ in the long-term potential of digital assets,” both in terms of “investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash.”
- On Monday, the price of Tesla shares reached an all-time high of $1,000 after the car rental company Hertz announced it plans to buy 100,000 electric cars from the manufacturer.
- The deal with Hertz pulled Tesla above $1 trillion market cap for the first time – the electric car manufacturer is now the 6th most valuable publicly traded company in the world.
- Despite being fully immersed in the cryptocurrency community, Musk disclosed he owns only Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin on Sunday. After the tweet, the price of DOGE promptly increased by 15% in the span of a few hours.
