Bitcoin hit a fresh record above $47,000 on Tuesday after Tesla signaled its intent to begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Bitcoin quadrupled in value last year and is up another 60 percent so far this year, amid endorsements from high-profile investors like Paul Tudor Jones and companies like PayPal Holdings Inc.

Still, though Tesla's $1.5 billion investment makes up about 8 percent of the company's cash reserves, it's a drop in the ocean compared with the overall holdings of America's blue-chip corporates. The purchase is worth just 0.05 percent of the $2.79 trillion of cash and cash-equivalents held on the balance sheets of S&P 500 members, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.