The price of bitcoin soared above $ 47,000 on Tuesday, building on gains following news that electric carmaker Tesla has invested $ 1.5 billion in the cryptocurrency and may accept it as future payment for products.
After hitting a record close to $ 44,000 on Monday, bitcoin quotes BTCUSD,
$ 45,000, $ 46,000, and $ 47,000 later that night, according to CoinDesk. Prices last traded at $ 47,651 on Tuesday.
Fueling the new surge for bitcoin was a Tesla TSLA,
regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. It revealed that Tesla acquired $ 1.5 billion in bitcoins in January and plans to accept this in the near future “ as a form of payment for our products, subject to applicable law and initially on a limited basis, which we have already then not be able to liquidate after receipt. ”
Read: Musk’s Tesla says it invested $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin, propelling cryptocurrency to record levels near $ 44,000
That’s because Musk recently voiced support for cryptocurrencies on his Twitter account.
For the bitcoin believers, it was a monumental move by a major company to invest in the digital currency and enable payments. But on the other hand, some analysts questioned Tesla’s move, given the cryptocurrency’s volatility and the electric car manufacturer’s stock prices.
Even if bitcoin’s price has multiplied by five in the past year, it could still collapse, Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, told clients in a note. “The high volatility of Bitcoin’s value will therefore inevitably lead to some volatility in Tesla’s earnings and reduce the predictability of the company’s performance.”
Bitcoin’s earnings year-to-date are up more than 60% in 2021. That’s against a 4% increase for the S&P 500 SPX,
and a gain of 8.5% for the Nasdaq Composite Index COMP,
while gold GC00,
has fallen by about 3% and crude oil prices CL.1,
are up 20%.
Read: Should I buy dogecoin? Why Cryptocurrency Prices Are Rising – But Risky