Tesla Inc chief Elon Musk said on Wednesday that a Tesla vehicle can now be bought using bitcoin and the option will be available outside the United States later this year. Tesla proved it was serious about Bitcoin when the automaker purchased $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency last month. Accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its EVs was also promised, and Elon Musk just confirmed it’s now possible. The Tesla CEO tweeted out the news this morning, stating simply: “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin.” He then went on to explain in a follow-up tweet that Tesla is relying on its own internal software, as well as open-source tools, to manage Bitcoin transactions and that the company operates its own Bitcoin nodes directly. The Bitcoin will not be converted to fiat currency. Musk also confirmed that Tesla has no intention of cashing in any Bitcoin it receives as payment for vehicles. Instead, “Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.” In so doing, Tesla can benefit from any uplift in the value of Bitcoin over time, as well as suffering any losses it makes. Is it a smart move? The value of Bitcoin varies greatly, but has generally been growing in value recently. For example, in April last year Bitcoin was valued at roughly $7,500, whereas today it sits around $54,000. If that continues, Tesla’s decision to accept and retain Bitcoin over the long term could prove to be a very clever (and profitable) decision.
