Tesla to Reconsider Bitcoin Payments in the Near Future

American electric automaker, Tesla Inc has hinted at the possibilities of resuming the acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) as one of its methods of payment. The Elon Musk-led company revealed this in its quarterly earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Under the Digital Assets section, the firm acknowledged acquiring BTC back in February for $1.5 billion, the only BTC acquisition it said it has made up until the end of September.

Following the acquisition, Tesla also unveiled back in March that it has started accepting Bitcoin payments for its products, a pro-BTC move that it discontinued back in May, citing the energy utilization of the digital currency. Many Bitcoiners considered the halt a relief at the time as the conditions attached to acquiring a Tesla with BTC was not easy.

While the company and Musk posited that its decision is not final and that it is subjected to change once Bitcoin’s energy usage and environmental impact are greatly improved. The automaker has formally expressed its plans to make this a reality in the SEC filing.

“During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we purchased an aggregate of $1.50 billion in bitcoin. In addition, during the three months ended March 31, 2021, we accepted bitcoin as a payment for sales of certain of our products in specified regions, subject to applicable laws, and suspended this practice in May 2021. We may in the future restart the practice of transacting in cryptocurrencies (“digital assets”) for our products and services,” the filing reads.

Per the quarterly report, Tesla said its overall profit would be known at the time of liquidation as the firm said it will “calculate the difference between the sales price and carrying value of the digital assets sold immediately prior to sale.”

Tesla Bitcoin Holdings: Contracting Third-Party Custodians

Whilst Tesla confirmed that it is still HODLing its acquired Bitcoins, the automaker said it may contract third-party custodian services to safeguard the digital currencies.

“We have ownership of and control over our digital assets and we may use third-party custodial services to secure it,” Tesla said.

Gaining exposure to digital currencies, particularly Bitcoin is a trend that is now very common amongst institutional investors in the past year. With varying capital injected into the nascent asset class, many are currently in profit as the digital currency inked a new All-Time High of $66,930.39 as reported by TheCoinRise a few days ago.

The admittance of third-party custodian services is also a testament to the interdependent nature of the digital currency industry.