In its second-quarter report, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), the leading electric car maker led by Elon Musk, announced that it has sold off 75% of its Bitcoins holding for approximately $936 million.
Tesla Sells 75% of its Bitcoin Holding
In its 2022 Q2 report, Tesla announced a 32% drop in profit from record levels in Q1. Despite the decline, the electric car maker managed to take in a net profit of $2.26 billion.
The most talked about section of the report was that Tesla had sold 75% of the $1.5 billion BTC stake it acquired in February 2021. Due to the crypto market decline, Tesla made $936 million from its sale.
The decline in its Q2 earnings directly results from an 18% drop in production. Tesla has been forced to shut down production in its Shanghai Gigafactory to comply with pandemic lockdown restrictions.
Musk Explains Why Tesla Sold its Bitcoin
Tesla CEO Elon Musk explained that his company sold its Bitcoin holding because of concerns about its overall liquidity. This is because its operations have been shut down in China due to COVID lockdown restrictions.
Musk adds that Tesla’s offloading of its Bitcoin should not be interpreted as the company taking a verdict on the flagship cryptocurrency. He adds that the company remains open to increasing its Bitcoin holding in future.
On the Flipside
- Despite announcing that Tesla had sold 75%, Elon Musk revealed that neither he nor the electric car manufacturer has sold any of their Dogecoin (DOGE).
Why You Should Care
Although the company agrees with the future potential of Bitcoin, the announcement continues a trend of an on-again, off-again relationship with Bitcoin.
Read about Tesla’s loss by holding Bitcoin through the winter below:
Tesla, Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) & El Salvador, and More Have Lost Billions to Bitcoin Crash
Musk’s comment about buying more Bitcoin is supported by a Tesla Filing covered in:
Tesla Open to Further Crypto Investments Per SEC Filing