Palantir is backed by Peter Thiel, who is chairman. Alex Karp (pictured above) is CEO.

Secretive data analytics company Palantir (NYSE: PLTR) revealed on its first-quarter earnings call that it had already begun accepting bitcoin as payment from its customers and that it was also considering holding bitcoin, as well as other cryptos, on its balance sheet. (CNBC)

Bitcoin as a cash reserve

In response to a question whether Palantir would consider cryptos as an asset on its balance sheet, CFO David Glazer replied:  “The short answer is yes, we’re thinking about it, and we’ve even discussed it internally. Take a look at our balance sheet, $2.3 billion in cash at quarter-end, including $151 million in adjusted free cash flow in Q1. So, it’s definitely on the table from a treasury perspective, as well as other investments, as we look across our business and beyond.”

It may be recalled that Elon Musk’s Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) announced in February its purchase of $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. Musk also said in March that Tesla cars could now be purchased with bitcoin and that such payments would be retained by the EV maker as bitcoin and not converted to fiat money.

The Palantir CFO also confirmed that the company had begun accepting bitcoin as a form of payment from its customers.

However, the company’s two largest customers are the United States Department of Defense and the United States Intelligence Community (USIC).

Peter Thiel, Palantir’s co-founder and chairman, is a prominent votary of bitcoin and has backed Layer1, a startup using wind-powered rigs to mine bitcoin in Texas.

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Image of Alex Karp, CEO Palantir, Credit: Flickr