Just a day after Tesla announced customers can now buy its vehicles using bitcoin, Ark Invest’s CEO Cathie Wood warned consumers that they could face significant taxes if they do so.

Currently, investors may need to pay capital gains taxes when they conduct transactions with bitcoin or convert it to fiat money, Wood said during a CBOE Global Markets Inc. webcast yesterday.

"The IRS has something to say about this, so if you have huge gains in your bitcoin, I don't think I would bear much in the way of transactions until we get maybe some changes on the tax front," said Wood, whose Ark ETFs own significant bitcoin and Tesla shares.

The IRS treats bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as property, like stocks and bond, not a currency. As a result, when investors sell bitcoin and convert it back to U.S. dollars or use it to purchase a good, the IRS sees it as a realization of investment gains that is therefore subject to  capital gains taxes.

As a result, purchasing one of the electric cars with bitcoin could end up being significantly more expensive than buying in cash or on credit, depending on when a customer first acquired their cryptocurrency shares.

IRS rates for capital gains taxes on assets that have been owned less than a year are taxed in the same brackets as a person's other income, while long-term capital gains are taxed at 15% for individuals who earn at least $80,000 and whose income does not exceed and $441,000. The rate is 20% for individuals that make more than that amount.

Wood's comments come just two days after Elon Musk announced that it's possible to buy a Tesla vehicle in the U.S. with bitcoin. While bitcoin was originally conceived by its founder as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, many crypto enthusiasts, like Wood, view bitcoin as more of a store of value asset, akin to digital gold.

Musk said in a tweet on Wednesday that customers outside the U.S. can expect to have the choice to buy Tesla cars in bitcoin "later this year."

Musk also said that Tesla intends to keep whatever bitcoin it receives as payment and not convert it to U.S. dollars or fiat currency. Last month, Tesla disclosed it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin to augment its cash balances.

Bitcoin rebounded to over $53,000 after slipping to $50,000 yesterday. The coin is up roughly 672% over the past year.