San Francisco, Feb 8 (IANS): Tech billionaire Elon Musk's electric vehicle company Tesla has invested $1.5 billion in the bitcoin cryptocurrency, according to its annual 10-K report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.

Tesla said it will also "begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future."

The announcement comes amid renewed interest shown by Musk in cryptocurrency and requests from Tesla customers for accepting bitcoin for buying the cars.

"In January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity," Tesla said in the report.

"As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets.

"Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy. Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt," it added.

Musk has also been sending tweets in support of Dogecoin over the past week, leading to a rise in the cryptocurrency's value.