Cryptocurrency bonanza in 2021, all thanks to these heavyweight events

1. Tesla adds bitcoin to its balance sheet

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) (TSLA.US) announced to the world on February 8 of this year that it had purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin and said it intended to accept bitcoin payments. Tesla's move pushed the price of bitcoin to record levels and also sparked various discussions about whether other companies would follow suit.

Tesla's move is bold, but not many companies have followed suit, except for Bitcoin backer Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy (MSTR.US). The company is known for taking its investment in cryptocurrencies to a whole new level, and has even raised money to buy more bitcoin by issuing debt; MicroStrategy currently holds billions of dollars in bitcoin assets. Both Tesla and MicroStrategy have had to take impairment charges on their positions due to the volatility of the bitcoin price.

Bitcoin remains an unstable asset. However, as the world's largest cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream, more companies are expected to see it as an investment option, and more companies will consider accepting it as a form of payment.