Tesla sells 75% of its Bitcoin holdings
Published on Jul 21, 2022 at 1:15 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jul 21, 2022 at 1:15 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Kate Bain
Tesla has just sold around 75 percent of its Bitcoin holdings worth around $936 million.
The company took advantage of the latest relief rally that saw BTC surge eight percent in just 24 hours.
The company shared the news as part of its Q2 earnings report, with CEO Elon Musk saying Tesla did it because it wanted to maximize its cash position.
READ MORE: Elon Musk says his slightly-terrifying ‘Tesla Bot’ will be ready as early as SEPTEMBER
Just like the stock market, the crypto space and BTC, in particular, are heavily affected by market sentiment, which is the reason why Bitcoin fell back to $22,000 after Tesla sold most of its position.
Ironically, Tesla has actually lost money on this.
The company bought $1.5 million worth of Bitcoin in February 2021, back when the world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading around $40,000.
Bitcoin price went up to $44,000 after Tesla’s announcement last year, and it kept on going up, all the way to its all-time high of nearly $70,000 in November 2021.
Tesla sells Bitcoin
Because Tesla is a public company, everything it does is scrutinized, and shareholder opinions always matter.
That said, Musk has always openly praised crypto, especially Dogecoin, which can still be used to purchase merch and accessories (but not the actual cars).
As for Bitcoin, the automaker began accepting Bitcoin payments for Tesla cars right after it bought BTC last year.
But this decision was short-lived and Tesla backtracked almost immediately, citing environmental concerns.
It’s fair to say that 2022 hasn’t been kind to investors so far.
In fact, that’s an understatement.
Even Tesla shares have fallen by almost 40 percent this year.
During its quarterly update, Tesla also reported higher-than-expected profit in Q2.
This is mostly because price increases of its best-selling models helped to offset production issues, again mostly to do with the plant in Shanghai, China.
READ MORE: Musk says Tesla will start delivering its Cybertruck by mid-2023
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