CEO Elon Musk said Tesla vehicles can now be purchased using bitcoin, increasing the company's sizable cryptocurrency holdings.
- The Tesla CEO said via Twitter Wednesday the bitcoin the company receives will stay as bitcoin and not be converted into fiat.
- This option will also be made available outside the U.S. later this year.
- Musk added that Tesla operates Bitcoin blockchain nodes directly using internal and open-source software.
- The move will see Tesla add to its already sizable bitcoin holdings, which Musk revealed on Feb. 8. At the time, Tesla's trove was valued at $1.5 billion and is worth quite a bit more now.
- Musk's tweet disclosing the purchase then propelled bitcoin to an all-time high of $44,801.
- The news today will be welcomed by bitcoin investors who have seen the world's most valuable crypto tread water around the $55,000 mark in recent days.
- Musk's tweet has already given a lift to the price of bitcoin, which is currently at $56,293.57, up 3.45% in the last 24 hours.