"I think we will see an acceleration of companies looking to allocate to Bitcoin now that Tesla has made the first move. One of the largest companies in the world now [effectively] owns Bitcoin and by extension, every investor that owns Tesla has exposure to it as well." 

That was the reaction of Eric Turner, vice president at cryptocurrency research and data firm Messari to the news that the Silicon Valley electric car giant is investing $1.5 billion in the virtual currency Bitcoin. 

Tesla boss Elon Musk has made no secret of his admiration for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, despite the wild swings in prices that have unnerved investors and central bankers around the world. Now it seems Musk is putting his money where his mouth is and the question may be whether other firms at the cutting edge of technology will be brave enough to follow.

Japan's tech-backing conglomerate SoftBank has posted multi-billion-dollar gains in its two high-profile "Vision Funds," after taking a punt on two growing businesses that look set to be with us after the pandemic has finally ended – ride hailing and home food delivery.

In a blow to the post-Brexit UK's financial services industry, the world's largest carbon trading exchange is relocating from the City of London to Europe. ICE Endex says it has been pushed into action by the EU's refusal to recognize the regulatory and supervisory framework in London as equivalent to that of member states after the UK exited the bloc.  

Auto analysts are warning of more pain yet for car makers, due to the shortfall in semiconductor chips worldwide. We ask one expert what can be done. 

And surprisingly, despite lockdown conditions, retail sales volumes rose slightly across Europe over the festive December period and not just for food and drink. 

Read on for all the day's business news in full.

Louise Greenwood,

Digital correspondent

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The value of Bitcoin has surged by another 7 percent to $44,000 after electric car giant Tesla said it had invested around $1.5 billion in the virtual currency. Tesla says it expects to begin accepting payment for its vehicles and other products with Bitcoin "in the near future." The announcement comes just two weeks after Tesla boss Elon Musk encouraged small-time investors to consider backing Bitcoin and its rival Dogecoin, as virtual currencies were "on the verge" of becoming more widely accepted on financial markets. 

The vote of confidence from Tesla could prove to be a turning point in the troubled history of Bitcoin, according to market watchers, by massively increasing retail exposure to the currency. In a filing statement, Tesla said the decision was being made as part of its broad rethink of investment policy, aimed at diversifying and maximizing returns. 

Japanese tech backer SoftBank has recorded its best performance for its two "Vision Funds" since their launch in 2017. The $13 billion boost to their value has been largely attributed to the rise in holdings of ride-hailing app Uber and recently listed food delivery group DoorDash and comes despite a $2.7 billion loss at its new trading arm. The result marks a huge turnaround in fortunes for Masayoshi Son's tech conglomerate, which has been restructuring its model after a series of high-profile losses, like that made at the office-sharing space firm WeWork.  

The EU's flagship carbon trading exchange ICE Endex is to move from London to Amsterdam, in a blow to the UK's plans to establish itself as a future center for green finance. In a statement, ICE Future Europe said the decision had been taken to help traders and investors "manage climate price risk in the most cost-effective and seamless manner" post Brexit. The exchange is the world's biggest carbon trading market, handling more than $1.2 billion of contracts a day.

The oil price has surged above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year, amid hopes of a faster economic revival from the COVID-19 pandemic and the roll-out of mass immunization programs globally. Brent crude oil futures price hit $60.06 per barrel in early trading on Monday, while the North American benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, also rose to $57.56 per barrel. The oil price has also been bolstered by hopes that the U.S. Congress will swiftly pass President Joe Biden's planned $1.9 trillion COVID-19 recovery package after poor recent jobs data.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is predicting a return to full employment in the U.S. by next year if the Biden stimulus package is passed. While the size of the proposed payout has been attacked by some Republicans, citing concerns over the possible inflationary effect, Yellen has responded that the "most important risk" was failing to adequately help the unemployed or addressing the true impact of COVID-19. 

Separately, Yellen has added that it is too soon to say whether new regulations are needed to deal with recent volatility on world stock markets. A campaign of targeted purchases by amateur traders in stock such as that of video games retailer GameStop has left Wall Street funds nursing big losses. 

China's market regulator has issued new guidelines aimed at tightening anti-monopoly restrictions in the tech sector. The rules from the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) bars big e-commerce sites from a range of behaviors, including forcing merchants to choose between different providers or support specific software or services. The rules formalize earlier anti-monopoly draft law released in November and aim to promote more diversity and support new entrants into the domestic market.  

Some of the world's top semiconductor makers have announced plans to increase supplies amid rising pressure from car makers, as the shortfall in chips drags on auto production. China's top chip maker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, says it will expand capacity by 45,000 circuit parts per month, but is warning of the effect of longer lead times for purchasing equipment. Republic of Korea (ROK) giant SK Hynix says it plans to relocate part of its production facilities to China, to reduce costs and speed up supply chains. 

Meanwhile, analysts warn that the global semiconductor shortage is likely to weigh on third-quarter results from three of Japan's biggest car firms later this week. Toyota, Nissan and Honda have been buoyed by stronger-than-expected growth in China and the U.S. but industry watchers say the global chip shortage is clouding the earnings outlook. 

Demand from China has helped boost the latest manufacturing results in Europe's biggest economy. Core manufacturing rose 0.9 percent in Germany in December, with strong demand for premium vehicles. Overall industrial output for the three months to the end of the year was up 6.1 percent on the third quarter, aided by a temporary cut in sales tax and UK clients who had stocked up on German exports ahead of a possible no-deal Brexit.         

Online retailer Boohoo has bought the remaining brands from Philip Green's failed Arcadia retail empire, just days after rival Asos acquired its flagship Topshop brand along with other labels. Boohoo is buying the Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis brands for just over $34 million, but the 214 bricks-and-mortar stores will shut, meaning more job losses for Britain's troubled retail sector. Last month, Boohoo also bought the Debenhams brand and e-commerce business. 

Airbnb has announced plans to tighten control of short-term rentals in several French cities. The site says it will bar listings from hosts without formal registration numbers starting later this year. France is one of Airbnb's top destinations but the site has faced criticism over concerns it is exacerbating housing shortages in popular destinations such as Paris, Lyon and Bordeaux. 

French waste and water giant Veolia has offered $21 per share to investors in rival group Suez as its bid for the firm goes hostile. Veolia is said to be frustrated by a lack of progress with boardroom discussions after buying a 29 percent stake in Suez last October with a view to a full purchase. Veolia has accused management at Suez for repeated stonewalling over the deal, which is now being investigated by market regulators on the instruction of France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. 

Estonian company Fermi Energia says it is raising capital to fund its first nuclear energy development. The small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) would be one of the first in Europe and aims to reduce the dependence of the Baltic state on oil shale. Estonia says the development is part of a wider campaign to diversify regional energy sources. 

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Analysts are warning that the shortage of semiconductor chips will drag on results from three of Japan's biggest car makers when they report their latest results this week. In the U.S., the new Biden administration is coming under pressure from both Republican and Democrat Congress members who are concerned about the impact the chip shortage is having on the economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CGTN Europe spoke to Michelle Krebs, senior director for automotive relations at Cox Automotive to discuss the outlook for the auto sector.  

It's hard to say exactly how hard automakers will be hit because it's possible if chips start flowing, they could make up some of this lost production later in the year. But I will say that on the forward earnings call yesterday, Jim Farley said this could cost Ford $1 billion to $2.5 billion in profits in the first half of the year. 

What's brought the situation to this point? 

Well, first of all, you know, we had this shutdown because of the pandemic, so nobody was producing anything and it's taken a while to refill the pipeline. The other thing that happened is nobody anticipated that car demand would return as quickly and dramatically as it has. And so there were some companies that scaled back their production plans and then slashed their orders for chips. So they were caught short-handed. And also the demand for things like computers, gaming systems, phones, all because we're working from home, has just skyrocketed. And so there's this competition for chips. And then, of course, add onto that we've had a previous administration that had some trade restrictions that has impacted the U.S.

How can production get back on track? 

Certainly throwing money at the situation, getting the chip makers to prioritize automotive chips over some of the other kinds of chips will make a difference. And there's also a longer-term push for the U.S. government to invest in producing chips here in the United States. We used to do that. We don't do that anymore and so we've become dependent on foreign-sourced chips. 

And finally, despite the pandemic slowdown, the latest figures show retail trade in Europe edged up slightly in December. Overall, the seasonally adjusted volume of trade rose by 2 percent over the festive period in the 19 states using the single currency. It was up 1.4 percent across all 27 member states, compared with November 2020. Economists are hoping that pent-up demand for consumer goods may fire the European economy back to growth once lockdowns are over.