Tesla Begins Accepting Bitcoin Payments

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk announced Wednesday that the automaker has begun accepting payments for its vehicles with Bitcoin (BTC). 

What Happened: The entrepreneur also said that Tesla will retain the paid apex cryptocurrency as BTC and will not convert it into fiat. 

“Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly,” wrote Musk on Twitter. 

The capability to pay with BTC would be available for customers outside in the United States later this year, according to Musk. 

See Also: Should you Buy a Tesla with BTC?

BTC traded 3.99% higher at $55,652.99 at press time. The cryptocurrency is trading 9.81% below its all-time high of $61,683.86 which it touched on Mar. 13, 2021. 

Why It Matters: Tesla had invested $1.5 billion in BTC in February. At that time the company had said that it would begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a payment option on a limited basis in the near future. 

Musk frequently tweets about cryptocurrency, particularly Dogecoin (DOGE). This month “Shark Tank” billionaire Mark Cuban said his basketball team — The Mavericks — began accepting DOGE as payment.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed nearly 1.2% lower at $662.16 on Tuesday.

See Also: Is Elon Musk's Influence On Dogecoin Price Waning?

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