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Elon Musk's interest in cryptocurrencies has raised the price of some, such as bitcoin or dogecoin.
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Elon Musk, through his automaker Tesla, reported the purchase of US $ 1.5 billion in bitcoin , the main cryptocurrency on the market.
The news caused the price of the digital currency to rise 17%, which took each unit to a record price of US $ 44,220.
Tesla said the purchase is in an attempt to maximize profitability on cash that is not used in the day-to-day operations of the business.
It comes days after Musk tweeted "#bitcoin," which also increased the price of the cryptocurrency.
Although he deleted the message days later, the South African businessman has continued to write about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies , such as dogecoin , which increased in value 50% after being mentioned.
In a stock market presentation, Tesla said it "updated its investment policy" in January and now wanted to invest in "reserve assets" such as digital currencies, gold bars, or gold exchange-traded funds.
They explained that they had already bought the $ 1.5 billion of bitcoin and that they could "acquire and hold digital assets" in the future.
"In addition, we hope to start accepting bitcoins as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis," they said from the company.
Musk said a week ago in a tweet that bitcoin was "on the brink" of being more accepted among investors.
Some analysts believe that Tesla's investment could be a before and after for the cryptocurrency.
"I think we will see an acceleration of companies looking to commit resources to bitcoin now that Tesla has taken the first step," said Eric Turner, vice president of market intelligence at cryptocurrency research firm Messari.
"One of the largest companies in the world now owns bitcoins, and by extension all investors who own Tesla, or even just one S&P 500 [stock exchange] fund, also have exposure."
But Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, warned that bitcoin is a "very volatile" cryptocurrency.
"Tesla is now starting to take a lot of [currency] risk; this may not worry many investors, but some conservative types might be concerned," he said.
Bitcoin, which has hit all-time highs in recent months after a roller coaster ride over the past decade, has also received support from major financial institutions this year.
In 2021, one bitcoin has been worth more than $ 40,000.
The world's largest money manager, Blackrock, recently changed a handful of investment orders to allow some of its funds to invest in the currency.
However, central banks remain skeptical of digital currencies.
In October, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned against using bitcoin as a payment method: "I have to be honest, it's hard to see that bitcoin has what we usually call intrinsic value ," he said.
"It can have extrinsic value in the sense that people want it," he added.
And he said investors should realize that its price is extremely volatile.
