Tesla Will Soon Recover Car Payments Using Crypto

JAKARTA— Tesla, a major electric vehicle maker led by Dogecoin preacher Elon Musk, has hinted that it may soon restore support for cryptocurrency payments.

In a September quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company stated it "may in the future restart the practice of transacting in cryptocurrencies," indicating Tesla is observing and continuing purchases made using digital assets.

The company also expressed its long-term trust in crypto assets as a store of value and a means of payment. “We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets both as an investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash,” said a source at Tesla quoted by Cointelegraph.

Tesla previously accepted Bitcoin as payment for electric vehicle purchases between January and March this year. The move comes as part of Tesla's wider adoption of Bitcoin, as the company also invests $1.5 billion from its treasury into BTC during the first quarter of 2021.

However, support for Bitcoin was quickly suspended after the company faced criticism for supporting BTC despite perceptions that bitcoin mining was proving to have a negative impact on the environment.

In June, CEO Elon Musk indicated that Tesla would consider continuing support for Bitcoin payments once at least half of the Bitcoin network hash rate was powered by renewable energy.

The report comes amid news that Tesla's market cap reached $1 trillion after securing a landmark deal with car rental company Hertz. Tesla's share price also rose by around $1k for the first time.

To the dismay of Shiba Inu Coin holders, Elon Musk tweeted this weekend that he only holds Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin.

On Monday, Twitter user Shiba Inu Holder tweeted to Elon Musk asking how many SHIBs he holds, to which Musk replied: "none."

“Out of curiosity, I obtained some ascii hash strings called 'Bitcoin, Ethereum & Doge'. That's all," he added.