Tesla Sells $936M Of Bitcoin Reserves

The car manufacturing company has sold almost all of its BTC reserves, retaining only 25% of the Bitcoin it purchased last year. 

Tesla Unloaded BTC in Q2

On Tuesday, Tesla’s earnings report for the second quarter of 2022 was released. The report revealed that the company had converted most of its Bitcoin holdings into fiat currency, earning around $936 million in cash for its balance sheet under “proceeds from sales of digital assets.” The sold-off assets comprised 75% of the firm’s Bitcoin holdings, as it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoins in February 2021. However, it had sold off around $272 million of these holdings in the first quarter of 2021. After the most recent selloff, the company now holds around $218 million of Bitcoin. 

Musk Claims Liquidity Concerns

Tesla CEO Elon Musk addressed the matter during an earnings call with analysts on Wednesday. He explained that the sell-off was not a “verdict on Bitcoin.” Instead, it resulted from liquidity concerns due to covid shutdowns in China. He is referring to the two-month-long COVID shutdown in Shanghai, where the Tesla Gigafactory was briefly closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. On top of that, parts shortages and shipping disruptions also caused further delays in production and deliveries. As a result, Tesla’s operations fell short of their targets. However, Musk has also said that the company would be open to increasing its Bitcoin holdings in the future. 

Tesla CFO Explains Sale

The earnings call also included Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn, who revealed that the sale was for “a realized gain,” which means that the company sold the crypto at a higher price than it purchased it. However, he also pointed out that the remaining Bitcoin in its holdings is worth much less than their buying price, indicating that the drop in the crypto’s prices has been significant enough to offset the profit from the 2022 Q2 sale. According to Kirkhorn, the actual net result was a $106 million cost to the company’s balance sheet. 

Musk’s BTC Disillusionment

In early 2021, the car manufacturing company also announced that it would accept the premier crypto payment for Tesla cars. However, later in 2021, Musk announced that the company was holding off the BTC payment option due to its energy-intensive mining process. Since the Tesla brand is all about sustainability, the high energy consumption of Bitcoin mining posed a problem. The CEO also clarified that Tesla would reconsider opening up the payment option if Bitcoin could switch to a more sustainable model.  

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.