Tesla loses out on billions of dollars by dumping 75% of its Bitcoin at the worst time
Published on Jul 25, 2025 at 4:49 PM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jul 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Emma Matthews
Tesla bought Bitcoin at the peak, then sold its BTC at a loss a year later.
No one knows exactly why Tesla sold its BTC at a loss, but what we do know is that the company missed out on billions.
For whatever reason, Elon Musk’s company completely mistimed the market.
But there’s still a silver lining.
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Tesla still owns Bitcoin
In 2021, when crypto was very close to its peak, Tesla bought Bitcoin.
The company spent $1.5 billion to buy 42,902 BTC at around $34,000 per coin.
A few months later, BTC reached a then-new all-time high of around $69,000, but Tesla didn’t sell.
Less than a year later, Bitcoin began crashing, like it often does after a new all-time high, and it was at that point that brand began selling.
In mid-2022, as the market was tanking, the company sold around 75 percent of its BTC holdings at a loss.
Tesla hasn’t bought or sold BTC since, but it is a public company, which means that everything in its balance sheet is public domain, and that’s how we know the company still holds 9,720 BTC as of its last disclosure.
That’s the silver lining.
Because while Tesla did miss out on a potentially much higher profit, it still holds over 9,000 BTC bought at $34,000.
And Bitcoin is now worth $115,000.
What’s going on with BTC
Institutions, including governments, are beginning to take Bitcoin seriously because it keeps going up, but also because they’re beginning to understand its potential as a hedge against inflation.
Bitcoin was worth around $60,000-$70,000 ahead of the election in November 2024, and it then started rising.
It peaked at $122,000 just a few days ago, before going back down a bit.
In the meantime, stories of people who lost out on a fortune are also piling up.
We can only imagine how the man who lost 8,000 BTC and the guy who spent 10,000 BTC on pizza must feel.
Still, amid these nightmare stories, we also have fairytales.
For example, somebody bought $7,800 worth of Bitcoin over a decade ago, and it’s now worth over $1 billion.
