Bitcoin jumped to a fresh record high on Monday after U.S. electric car manufacturer Tesla (TSLA) announced its purchase of $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency.
The largest cryptocurrency surged at least 11% to more than $43,000, surpassing the previous peak price of $41,962 reached Jan. 8, according to CoinDesk 20 data.
Tesla, headed by Elon Musk, said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing it has invested an aggregate $1.5 billion in bitcoin and is open to acquiring and holding digital assets from time to time or for the long term. Musk stirred up enthusiasm in the cryptocurrency markets recently when he added “#bitcoin” to his Twitter profile.
Tesla is the latest to join a growing list of publicly traded companies buying bitcoin for their corporate treasuries, led by Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy (MSTR).