Elon Musk says Tesla now accepts Bitcoin from US customers

Published at: March 24, 2021

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 signaled 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.

Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly.Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021

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.

Visitors to Tesla's website from a U.S.-based IP address will now see a new Bitcoin payment widget added to the site's checkout options. The impact of Tesla's acceptance of Bitcoin may have been felt on the cryptocurrency market early on Wednesday. Coinciding with the breaking of the news, the dollar value of Bitcoin jumped 2.9% from $54,056 to $55,630.

Tesla's Bitcoin terms and conditions do state that Bitcoin is the only digital asset that Tesla accepts as payment for its products at this time. "You may not make purchases with us using any other digital asset, including Bitcoin fork products, such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. Our Bitcoin digital wallet is not configured to detect or receive digital assets other than Bitcoin," state the terms.

Tags
Adoption
Bitcoin
United States
Business
Elon Musk
Tesla
Related Posts
Tesla made $1B profit on its Bitcoin buy, says analyst
American electric car giant Tesla has seen some massive gains from its Bitcoin (BTC) investment, reportedly having made up to $1 billion in profit, according to a new report. An analyst at Wedbush Securities, a private investment firm in the United States, has calculated that Tesla has made “roughly $1 billion” in the aftermath of its $1.5 billion Bitcoin investment. Daniel Ives estimated Tesla’s Bitcoin profits in an investor note on Saturday, CNBC reports. Amid Bitcoin’s parabolic surge to become a $1 trillion asset, Ives said, “Tesla is on a trajectory to make more from its Bitcoin investments than profits …
Adoption / Feb. 22, 2021
Crypto is impossible to destroy, says Tesla CEO Elon Musk
As global regulators continue to scrutinize the cryptocurrency industry, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has expressed support for crypto, calling it indestructible. “It is not possible to, I think, destroy crypto, but it is possible for governments to slow down its advancement,” Musk said at the Code Conference in California, CNBC reported Tuesday. According to the Tesla CEO, the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies may be a challenge for the Chinese government, which announced a new war on crypto last Friday. “I suppose cryptocurrency is fundamentally aimed at reducing the power of a centralized government,” Musk noted, adding, “They don’t like that.” …
Adoption / Sept. 29, 2021
Tesla’s landlord accepts crypto — Will Elon Musk pay rent in Bitcoin?
After becoming a corporate pioneer in cryptocurrency adoption, Elon Musk could be about to take the next step and begin paying rent in Bitcoin (BTC). While no announcement has been made by the “Technoking” himself, news broke on Wednesday regarding a partnership between Los Angeles real-estate firm Caruso Properties and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange, founded by the Winklevoss twins. Following the partnership, Caruso will accept Bitcoin payments for rent at its various retail and residential properties. The firm’s deal with Gemini also saw Caruso convert about 1% of its treasury into Bitcoin, reports the L.A Times. Caruso owns the property …
Adoption / April 8, 2021
Don’t expect large firms to follow Tesla’s Bitcoin move, JPMorgan says
Strategists at JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest investment banks in the United States, believe that Tesla’s $1.5 billion Bitcoin (BTC) purchase will not necessarily trigger a ton of similar investments. A group of JPMorgan strategists led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou reportedly argued that Bitcoin’s highly volatile nature could keep mainstream corporate treasurers away from Bitcoin. “The main issue with the idea that mainstream corporate treasurers will follow the example of Tesla is the volatility of Bitcoin,” the strategists wrote in a note to investors, Bloomberg reported Tuesday. According to JPMorgan, even a small portion of Bitcoin in corporate treasures’ portfolios …
Adoption / Feb. 10, 2021
In this together: Musk and Saylor down a combined $1.5B on Bitcoin buys
As the bear market bites, holding crypto investments can be a tough pill to swallow. Consider two of the largest bag holders of publicly traded companies. They are down by almost $2 billion dollars on their Bitcoin (BTC) buys. According to Bitcointreasuries.net, the 130,000 and 43,00 Bitcoin held by Microstrategy and Tesla, respectively, are worth considerable sums less. For Microstrategy, Michael Saylor splashed out almost $4 billion ($3,965,863,658) on 129,218 BTC, approximately 0.615% of the 21 million total supply. The Bitcoin price nosedive has ripped away earlier gains: The investment is worth $3.1 billion ($3,074,987,824), a loss of $900 million. …
Adoption / June 13, 2022