Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment sends bitcoin to record highs

It’s an exciting day if you’re an investor in Bitcoin and/or Tesla. The cryptocurrency soared to a new all-time high of $44,868.98 per bitcoin after the electric car maker said in regulatory filings that it will soon accept it as payment for its vehicles.

Tesla also said it has invested $1.5 billion in bitcoin as part of an effort to invest some of the company’s cash in “certain specified alternative reserve assets.”

Bitcoin fell back from its new record but was still up more than 15% around mid-morning, reaching more than $43,700.

Tesla shares, meanwhile, climbed more than 2%.

The broader stock market is also in the green, with all three major indexes rising. The S&P 500, which counts Tesla as a member, was up 0.5% in the late morning, while the Dow rose 0.6%, or about 190 points. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7%. Both the S&P and the Nasdaq are on track to notch new record highs.

This isn’t Tesla’s first foray into pushing cyrptocurrency prices higher. Elon Musk tweeted about Dogecoin last week, sending the alternative currency soaring.

Even though Musk previously said his tweets about Dogecoin — which began as an internet parody based on a viral dog meme — were jokes, that didn’t stop the price from surging. On Monday, Dogecoin was up nearly 31% at $0.08 in the late morning, according to coindesk.

–Chris Isidore contributed to this story.