Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and will start accepting Bitcoin payments

Tesla said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Tesla said in the filing that it bought Bitcoin to "enhance flexibility, diversify, and maximize returns on our cash."

In addition, Tesla also stated that in addition to purchasing Bitcoin, the company will also begin accepting Bitcoin payments in exchange for its products. This also means that Tesla will become the first major automaker to accept Bitcoin payments.

Tesla's move immediately raised questions about its CEO Elon Musk, who in recent weeks has posted positive messages about digital cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin on Twitter and other media to boost their prices and encourage more people to buy them.

Bitcoin price rises by $800

On January 29, Musk changed the profile of his Twitter account to "bitcoin". Of course, people don't know what this means specifically. But data shows that after Musk changed his Twitter profile, Bitcoin rose by $800, reaching $32,758 per coin.

On February 2, Musk said on the instant voice chat social software Clubhouse that Bitcoin is on the verge of being more widely accepted by investors and he regretted not buying Bitcoin eight years ago.

Musk said at the time: "I am a supporter of Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin is on the verge of being more widely accepted by investors." Musk also said that he should have bought Bitcoin eight years ago. He said: "I am a little slow to understand and realize it a little late. But at the moment, I really think it is a good thing."

Today, after Tesla announced the news, the price of Bitcoin soared 12% to at least $43,200. Tesla's stock price also rose by more than 2% in pre-market trading.

Dogecoin price rises 800%

The price of the digital cryptocurrency Dogecoin has surged due to support from Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other celebrities on Twitter.

With a 65% increase in 24 hours, Dogecoin’s price hit an all-time high of $0.083745 at 5:30 p.m. EST on Sunday (6:30 a.m. Beijing time on Monday). Dogecoin’s outstanding performance pushed its market value to over $9.5 billion, even reaching $10.7 billion at one point, making it the tenth-ranked digital cryptocurrency on the CoinMarketCap rankings.

Created in 2013, Dogecoin took its name and logo from the Shiba Inumeme that became popular a few years ago. The cryptocurrency started out as a joke but has since gained a following.

Musk has spoken about Dogecoin on Twitter several times in recent years. Late last month, Musk tweeted a photo of a fictional Dogue magazine, a parody of fashion magazine Vogue, which also caused the price of Dogecoin to surge 800%.