Categories: CleanTech Bites

Tesla buys $A2bn bitcoin, and may accept it as payment for EVs

Published by

The Driven

Electric carmaker Tesla has invested around eight per cent of its cash holdings in bitcoin, and said it may accept bitcoin from customers in the future as payment for electric vehicles.

The purchase was revealed in a company filing on Monday (US time) and was made possible after Tesla changed certain company policies to allow for investment in “alternative reserve assets”, including digital assets.

The company notes in the filing that the updated policy could also see it “accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future”, albeit “on a limited basis”.

Tesla also states in the filing that it has “invested an aggregate $1.50 billion ($A2 billion) in bitcoin under this policy and may acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or long-term.”

The value of bitcoin surged 9% to a record $US42,709 ($A55,280) after the purchase was revealed, and Tesla CEO and co-founder Elon Musk also pointed to the lesser-known Dogecoin which saw that cryptocurrency also surge in value.

To read the full version of this story, please go to our EV-focussed sister site, The Driven and click here…

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is lead reporter for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She specialises in writing about new technology, and has a keen interest in the role that zero emissions transport has to play in sustainability.

Share
Published by

Recent Posts

Data centre probe prompts call for tighter renewable energy requirements in coal state

A NSW parliamentary inquiry has recommended the government require data centres to supply their own…

5 November 2026

Low-cost green hydrogen hopeful lands fresh grant to build pilot at site of proposed offshore wind hub

Green hydrogen CSIRO spin-off wins new grant funding to build fourth pilot plant, this time…

5 November 2026

The rise and fall of the LGC market and the data centre policy decision that will determine its fate

A seemingly niche decision around data centre standards will determine whether LGC prices retain some…

5 November 2026

Huge wind and battery project avoids turbine cuts and name change to win state approval for the West

Developer dodges having to cut 18 turbines from its 750 MW wind plans and change…

5 November 2026

State tightens reins on home energy saver loans after signing up 15,000 households in just 5 months

Energy efficiency is so hot right now. After signing up more than 15,000 households to…

5 November 2026

Chart of the day: Batteries in the ‘burbs are starting to compete with utility-scale storage

CER data has been used to rank nearly 2,500 postcodes across Australia for home battery…

5 November 2026