Tesla initially hinted at accepting Bitcoin for payments in an SEC filing earlier this year.
Elon Musk has announced that Tesla cars can now be purchased using Bitcoin (BTC). The electric car company’s CEO and “Technoking” said the firm would operate Bitcoin nodes directly, and would hold on to the Bitcoin it accumulates without converting it to fiat.
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
Tesla first signalled its intention to start accepting Bitcoin for products in early February, following its purchase of $1.5 billion worth of the digital asset, an SEC filing showed. The option to buy a Tesla using BTC will only be extended to U.S-based customers for the time being.
Elon Musk’s insistence that the Bitcoin earned through the sale of the firm’s vehicles won’t be converted to fiat suggests it is not just being utilized as a transactional medium, but also an investment tool.
By running its own dedicated Bitcoin nodes, Tesla will join a global network of peer-to-peer operators who host and synchronize the Bitcoin blockchain.