Around two months ago, Tesla 's CEO Elon Musk made waves by saying consumers would soon be able to buy a new Tesla with Bitcoin. Today is that day. Musk announced on Twitter early Wednesday the company now accepts the cryptocurrency, adding, "Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency."
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
When buyers finish building their ideal Tesla, be it Model S, Model 3, Model X or Model Y, the automaker's website checkout page now includes a Bitcoin button to make a deposit payment. The option to pay with a card remains as well. The $100 deposit converts to about 0.0018376 BTC.
Last month, Musk and Co. invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin to maximize cash returns, which pushed Bitcoin up 13% at the time. While Musk's been outspoken about crypto in recent weeks, including the joke cryptocurrency "Dogecoin," Tesla said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on its Bitcoin investment it occasionally will "hold digital assets from time to time or long-term." No one at Tesla, including Musk, has suggested the automaker will accept any other cryptocurrency in the future (including Dogecoin, to be clear).
Bitcoin stock (BTC) was up nearly 2.5% in early Wednesday trading.
