Tesla buys $1.5B in Bitcoin — Musk shares his views on the cryptocurrency future

A Tesla (TSLA) securities filing with the SEC has revealed that the automaker has bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) cryptocurrency. This is by far the largest ever purchase of Bitcoin. This news has taken Bitcoin to new heights which were already on a roll (1 BTC = $46,485.70 as of this writing).

While BTC has risen in the stock market, Tesla shares are facing a downward trend today, maybe the decision did not go very well with the TSLA investors’ confidence.

Tesla’s filing with the SEC also confirms that the automaker might soon enable Bitcoin as a currency to purchase its vehicles on a limited scale and according to local laws & regulations.

Here’s the entire SEC filing part on Tesla’s purchase of Bitcoin and possibly more cryptocurrencies in the future:

We hold and may acquire digital assets that may be subject to volatile market prices, impairment and unique risks of loss.
In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, which was duly approved by the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain alternative reserve assets including digital assets, gold bullion, gold exchange-traded funds and other assets as specified in the future. Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term. Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.
The prices of digital assets have been in the past and may continue to be highly volatile, including as a result of various associated risks and uncertainties. For example, the prevalence of such assets is a relatively recent trend, and their long-term adoption by investors, consumers and businesses is unpredictable. Moreover, their lack of a physical form, their reliance on technology for their creation, existence and transactional validation and their decentralization may subject their integrity to the threat of malicious attacks and technological obsolescence. Finally, the extent to which securities laws or other regulations apply or may apply in the future to such assets is unclear and may change in the future. If we hold digital assets and their values decrease relative to our purchase prices, our financial condition may be harmed.
Moreover, digital assets are currently considered indefinite-lived intangible assets under applicable accounting rules, meaning that any decrease in their fair values below our carrying values for such assets at any time subsequent to their acquisition will require us to recognize impairment charges, whereas we may make no upward revisions for any market price increases until a sale, which may adversely affect our operating results in any period in which such impairment occurs. Moreover, there is no guarantee that future changes in GAAP will not require us to change the way we account for digital assets held by us.
Finally, as intangible assets without centralized issuers or governing bodies, digital assets have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, cyberattacks or other malicious activities, as well as human errors or computer malfunctions that may result in the loss or destruction of private keys needed to access such assets. While we intend to take all reasonable measures to secure any digital assets, if such threats are realized or the measures or controls we create or implement to secure our digital assets fail, it could result in a partial or total misappropriation or loss of our digital assets, and our financial condition and operating results may be harmed.
Tesla SEC filing from Dec 2020.

I think people should not invest their life savings in cryptocurrency.
Elon Musk

For the last week or so, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been dedicating his entire tweetstorms to Dogecoin, another cryptocurrency that was born out of a joke about other cryptocurrencies. Musk and his followers around the social media sphere have been constantly pushing Dogecoin’s (DOGE) price to reach $1 this year.

Musk and followers have also been posting interesting memes on Dogecoin on Twitter, actually, Twitter has lately been swarming with the Doge memes.

This past weekend, Musk made a rare public appearance out on the streets, only to be surrounded by journalists and the general public moments later. He talked about what he really thinks about cryptocurrency in this brief session (video below).

So … it’s finally come to this … pic.twitter.com/Gf0Rg2QOaF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2021

Musk believes that there’s a good chance that crypto is the future currency of our planet. But keeping the volatility factor in mind, “this should be considered speculation at this point”, said Musk while talking to TMZ over the weekend.

Tesla at this stage surely is capable of taking a risk of $1.5B investment in Bitcoin, which is currently the safest cryptocurrency out there. If the Bitcoin rally keeps on a roll for the next few quarters, Tesla might reap great profits without actually doing anything besides the purchase.

The following video (Ð is for Ðogecoin) released in 2014 was intended as a joke toward cryptocurrencies by Dogecoin, but later on, DOGE itself became a real digital currency. As Musk puts it together “Fate loves irony, the most entertaining outcome is the most ironic outcome”.

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By Iqtidar Ali