Cryptocurrency: Tesla investment boosts bitcoin ranking in U.S. stocks

Wall Street stocks powered to fresh records Monday, while bitcoin also touched an all-time high after Tesla declared itself an investor in the cryptocurrency.

Also rising were oil prices to a 52-week high, while U.S. Treasury yields also surged before pulling back.

All three major U.S. stock indices streaked to fresh records, extending last week’s rally on optimism that additional U.S. fiscal stimulus is coming soon, along with an expected economic recovery.

Shortly after news broke of Tesla’s investment of $1.5 billion in the digital currency, bitcoin hit a record- high $44,795.20 before pulling back slightly. Bitcoin’s value soared more than 10% after the announcement.

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The announcement comes on the heels of a cheeky social media embrace of bitcoin by the iconoclastic Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk and marks the latest step in the mainstreaming of the cryptocurrency.

Indeed, Tesla’s move could make Bitcoin a more mainstream currency especially if other companies buy into the idea.

“This is probably one of the biggest developments for the cryptocurrency industry,” noted Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at ThinkMarkets.

“Tesla is going to be a major player in the auto industry and if it starts accepting bitcoin as a form of payment, it will give the digital currency further legitimacy.”

In the near future, the EV automaker said it would soon accept cryptocurrency as payment.

Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, have been encouraging digital currencies. He even briefly adopted a #bitcoin on his twitter profile.

But some analysts are more cautious claiming that is just a stunt to bring attention to Tesla.

Lens/afp