Aurich Lawson / Liesa Johannssen-Koppitz / Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bitcoin’s price rose to a new record above $ 43,000 on Monday after Tesla said it bought $ 1.5 billion of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency. In a regulatory document, Tesla also announced that it hoped “to start accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future”.
Tesla said this would be “initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not settle upon receipt.”
Bitcoin is in the middle of its fourth largest bull market, having grown 10 times in the past two years. An increasing number of traditional organizations have chosen to add bitcoin to their investment portfolios, increasing the value of the currency.
While Tesla made a big bet on bitcoin, the most famous cryptocurrency, CEO Elon Musk tweeted about the most meme-capable cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. On Friday night, for example, he posted a poll on Twitter asking whether the “future Earth currency” would be “Dogecoin for Moooonn” or “all other cryptography combined”. Dogecoin won in a landslide.
A series of Musk tweets appears to have played a significant role in increasing Dogecoin’s value tenfold in the past two weeks. A Dogecoin is now worth more than eight cents, an all-time record.
In a recent appearance on the social audio app Clubhouse, Musk said he became a recent bitcoin fan. He regretted not having invested in cryptocurrency before. He also warned people not to take Dogecoin promotion too seriously.
“I occasionally make jokes about Dogecoin, but in reality they are meant to be jokes,” said Musk. “Dogecoin was made as a joke to mock crypto, but fate loves irony.”
In its Monday regulatory process, Tesla warned that its bitcoin stakes could add noise to its quarterly earnings reports. If bitcoin’s value plummeted – as it does from time to time – Tesla could be forced to acknowledge a loss charge.