Cryptocurrency tracking and data site CoinMarketCap has listed a Tesla Model 3, the world’s best selling electric vehicle, above Bitcoin on its site today, a commemorative gesture to celebrate Tesla’s mammoth Bitcoin purchase.
As per the image below, the Model 3 “token” sells for $37,990 (the actual price of the car) with a market cap of $24 billion and a circulating supply of 902,895.
But don’t rush to buy the token just yet: It does not exist. The Model 3 listing has been put up as part of CoinMarketCap’s ‘Untracked Listing’ criteria—defined as an asset/product that may not be listed on the open market but shows crypto adoption, community engagement, innovation, among other factors to signify its importance to the broader crypto ecosystem.
So while the top-ranked cryptocurrency is not a Model 3, an electric sedan produced by Tesla, CoinMarketCap pays homage to what is one of the largest-ever purchases of Bitcoin by a prominent enterprise.
As per a recent filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla noted it picked up over $1.5 billion worth of the world’s biggest asset, stating that it sought new avenues for financial growth. It even said that buyers could use Bitcoin to buy Tesla products in the future—based on legal and regulatory guidelines.
It joined various other businesses and individuals to invest in Bitcoin in the past year. The purchase is second only to American software maker MicroStrategy, which holds the biggest amount of Bitcoin—among all other traditional businesses—as part of its treasury. It purchased over a billion dollars in three phases last year, stating the purchase was a hedge against inflation and a superior alternative to a low-yield economic climate.
Tesla $TSLA has de-risked the acquisition of #bitcoin by public companies and accelerated the digital transformation of corporate balance sheets. Treasurers are now thinking about how to convert a non-performing asset into the best performing asset. https://t.co/7mO7z6WtQ4
— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) February 8, 2021
Meanwhile, CoinMarketCap previously commemorated “WallStreetBets,” a financial subreddit, last month in a similar setting. Members of the subreddit drove up the price of GameStop, an American videogame rental company by over 500% in a few weeks, likening the surge to be a move against the financial establishment—one that resonated with the ethos of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
