Bitcoin Price Update As Tesla Causes Cryptocurrency to Spike

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Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean

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The price of Bitcoin passed $57,000 on Wednesday, according to CoinMarketCap, which monitors cryptocurrencies.

This was an increase of more than 2 percent in 24 hours. It reached as high as $57,255 on March 24, according to CoinMarketCap.

The price of Bitcoin has risen sharply in recent months, especially since early February when Tesla announced it had invested around $1.5 billion in the currency.

Bitcoin has increased from about $6,656 on March 25, 2020, to a high of $59,972 on March 14 this year, according to CoinMarketCap,

The latest price rise came as Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, tweeted on Wednesday: "You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin."

He added in another tweet that the electric car company was "using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly. Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency."

Tesla customers outside the U.S. would be able to use Bitcoin "later this year," Musk added.

Bitcoin is the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap value, which is "the total market value of a cryptocurrency's circulating supply," according to CoinMarketCap.

To buy a car using Bitcoin, customers should "initiate payment from your Bitcoin wallet," Tesla says on its website. "You can either scan the QR code or copy and paste the Bitcoin address and the exact Bitcoin amount into your wallet."

Once the cryptocurrency is sent from the wallet, the page will refresh within a minute. Tesla will email the customer a confirmation once the payment has been received. "This can take up to six hours to process," Tesla says.

"To ensure timely processing of your order, send the exact amount in a single Bitcoin payment," the company advises.

Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency accepted by Tesla.

You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 24, 2021

In late January, the price of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that began as a joke in 2013, hit record levels following a tweet by Musk.

The price climbed further in early February after more Twitter posts from Musk, rapper Snoop Dogg and musicians Gene Simmons from Kiss and Kevin Jonas from Jonas Brothers.

In early February, Mastercard announced that it would "start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network" this year, as it prepares "for the future of crypto and payments."

The card firm already offers "crypto cards," created last year in partnership with Wirex and BitPay. These allow customers to make transactions using cryptocurrencies, which are converted to a government-issued currency before the funds reach the seller.

Mastercard's latest plan would allow customers to pay directly in cryptocurrencies, a source told Coindesk.

The company said in a statement: "Mastercard isn't here to recommend you start using cryptocurrencies. But we are here to enable customers, merchants and businesses to move digital value—traditional or crypto—however they want. It should be your choice, it's your money.

"Doing this work will create a lot more possibilities for shoppers and merchants, allowing them to transact in an entirely new form of payment."

Bitcoin Netherlands March 2021
An illustration of Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency's price passed $57,000 on March 24. Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images
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About the writer

Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in travel, health, home/interior design and property/real estate. Soo covered the COVID-19 pandemic extensively from 2020 to 2022, including several interviews with the chief medical advisor to the president, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Soo has reported on various major news events, including the Black Lives Matter movement, the U.S. Capitol riots, the war in Afghanistan, the U.S. and Canadian elections, and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Soo is also a South Korea expert, covering the latest K-dramas—including the breakout hit Squid Game, which she has covered extensively, including from Seoul, the South Korean capital—as well as Korean films, such as the Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated Past Lives, and K-pop news, to interviews with the biggest Korean actors, such as Lee Jung-jae from Squid Game and Star Wars, and Korean directors, such as Golden Globe and Oscar nominee Celine Song. Soo is the author of the book How to Live Korean, which is available in 11 languages, and co-author of the book Hello, South Korea: Meet the Country Behind Hallyu. Before Newsweek, Soo was a travel reporter and commissioning editor for the award-winning travel section of The Daily Telegraph (a leading U.K. national newspaper) for nearly a decade from 2010, reporting on the latest in the travel industry, from travel news, consumer travel and aviation issues to major new openings and emerging destinations. Soo is a graduate of Binghamton University in New York and the journalism school of City University in London, where she earned a Masters in international journalism. You can get in touch with Soo by emailing s.kim@newsweek.com . Follow her on Instagram at @miss.soo.kim or X, formerly Twitter, at @MissSooKim .Languages spoken: English and Korean

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Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more