Tesla invests $1.5 billion in bitcoin, sending the price soaring to new heights

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, here’s the big 2021 love story: Tesla and bitcoin.

The electric-vehicle maker has invested $1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency.

The information was revealed in Tesla’s annual report, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this morning.

In it, Tesla also revealed that plans to start letting customers use bitcoin to buy its products “in the near future.”

The cryptocurrency news sent bitcoin’s price soaring to record highs. It shot up around 8 a.m. ET, peaking shortly before 9:30 a.m. at more than $44,000.

Tesla’s stock also benefited from the announcement. It was $868.20 per share, up $15.97 or 1.87%, in mid-morning trading.

“We believe our bitcoin holdings are highly liquid. However, digital assets may be subject to volatile market prices, which may be unfavorable at the time when we want or need to liquidate them,” Tesla wrote.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is a noted fan of cryptocurrency. Last month, he included the hashtag #bitcoin in his Twitter bio, which drove the price up. He’s also tweeted in support of dogecoin, including a tweet tweet last night: “Ð is for Ðogecoin! Instructional video.”

In 2017, Musk had to dispel rumors that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin, after a former SpaceX intern said he was.