Tesla is making a big bet on Bitcoin. The automaker not only plans on accepting the virtual currency as a form payment, but it’s also buying $1.5 billion in Bitcoin itself.
Tesla is spending the massive sum in the hopes Bitcoin will turn out to be a worthy investment, the automaker says in a Monday securities filing. Last month, the company updated its investment policy to “further diversify and maximize returns” on the cash it currently holds.
“Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.5 billion in Bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term,” the filing adds. In the same document, Tesla says it expects to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment in the near future, but initially on a limited basis.
It’s not clear when exactly Tesla bought the Bitcoin. But on Jan. 8, the virtual currency hit what was then a record high at $40,519, according to CoinDesk. The digital asset is now worth over $43,000 following Tesla’s disclosure that it invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. A year ago, it was worth a quarter of that at $9,900.
Tesla’s plans for the virtual currency may help Bitcoin gain some further mainstream acceptance. However, the investment is also receiving some backlash on social media, with critics pointing to the environmental toll Bitcoin mining can cause due to its need for heavy energy consumptions.
“Bitcoin is such an environmental disaster, it really is a crime against humanity. So what does Tesla do with their $1.5B in revenue last year from clean car credits sold to other automakers? Put it into ‘Destroy the Planet Inc,’” tweeted Nicholas Weaver, a computer scientist at the University of California, Berkeley.
In the meantime, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been tweeting support for another virtual currency, known as Dogecoin, which has also seen its price soar in recent weeks.