Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Gulf Today Report 

Tesla inc to accept bitcoin as a medium of payment for its electric cars said Elon Musk on Wednesday.

The announcement marks an important step in the acceptance of cryptocurrencies use in commerce. 

 Picture used for illustrative purpose. File

Last month, Tesla inc confirmed buying $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. 

"You can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin," Musk said on Twitter, adding that the option would be available outside the United States later this year.

Bitcoin gained by more than 4% after Musk’s tweet. It was the last trading at $56.429.

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Musk said bitcoin paid to Tesla would not be converted into traditional currency, but he gave few other details on how the bitcoin payments would be processed. The company was using "internal & open source software", he said.