Tesla has said it bought about $1.5bn of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin in January and expects to start accepting it as payment in the future.
The news that Elon Musk’s Tesla had purchased $1.5bn of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin caused its price to jump 17% to $44,220, a record high.
Tesla said it was trying to maximize returns on cash that is not being used in day-to-day running of the company.
The announcement came days after Mr Musk added “#bitcoin” to his Twitter profile page, driving up the price.
In a stock market filing, Tesla said it “updated its investment policy” in January and now wanted to invest in “reserve assets” such as digital currencies, gold bullion, or gold exchange-traded funds.
