CNBC.com's MacKenzie Sigalos brings you the day's top business news headlines. On today's show, CNBC's Kate Rooney breaks down bitcoin's surge past $48,000 after Tesla's investment. Plus, CNBC's Ylan Mui explains how some states and cities are sending their own stimulus checks as lawmakers in Washington continue to tweak a new Covid relief package.

Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, plans to accept it as payment

Tesla announced Monday it has bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said it bought the bitcoin for "more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash."

Tesla also said it will start accepting payments in bitcoin in exchange for its products "subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis." That would make Tesla the first major automaker to do so. The $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin will give Tesla liquidity in the cryptocurrency once it starts accepting it for payments.

House Democrats call for faster phase out in next round of stimulus checks

House Democrats on Monday proposed a faster phase out for the next round of direct payments, as the party tries to assuage concerns about coronavirus relief checks going to higher-income Americans.

As part of its portion of the $1.9 trillion rescue package, the House Ways and Means Committee said individuals who make up to $75,000 and couples filing jointly who earn up to $150,000 would get a full $1,400 direct payment. The sum would phase out more quickly than it would have under previously proposed legislation, and would get reduced to zero for individuals earning $100,000 and joint filers making up to $200,000.

The proposal may not be the final income structure for the payments as Democrats negotiate a bill they hope to pass without Republican support by early March.

Raising minimum wage to $15 would cost 1.4 million jobs, CBO says

Raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, as President Joe Biden has proposed, would cost 1.4 million jobs over the next four years while lifting 900,000 people out of poverty, according to a Congressional Budget Office report Monday.

The impact on the employment rolls is slightly higher than the 1.3 million employment estimate from a 2019 report from the CBO, a nonpartisan agency that provides budgetary analysis to Congress.

The number has been disputed by employment advocates who cite the benefits from the raise and say businesses will be able to handle the costs.