Bitcoin fans looking for ways to spend their cryptocurrency fortunes can add a big ticket item to the list: a Tesla.
You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021
Bitcoin paid to Tesla will not be converted by the electric car company into regular currency, he added in a subsequent tweet. Musk said that the option to pay by bitcoin will be available outside the United States later this year.
The price of a single bitcoin climbed nearly 3% to hit $56,242 shortly after Musk’s tweet, more than enough to buy an entry level Tesla Model 3, which costs just under $40,000. Tesla’s most expensive vehicle, the Model X Plaid, starts at around $120,000 — slightly more than two bitcoin.
A Tesla vehicle is on display at a showroom in Miami, Florida, on March 19, 2021.
Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said “this is a seminal moment for Tesla and for the crypto world.”
“We expect less than 5% of transactions to be through Bitcoin over the next 12 to 18 months, however this could move higher over time as crypto acceptance starts to ramp over the coming years,” he added.