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Tesla discarded 75% of its BTC holdings

The leading EV manufacturer got rid of bitcoin amidst a crypto winter

Tesla Bitcoin

Source: shutterstock.com

In its Q2 2022 earnings report, the electric car company revealed it has exchanged 75% of its Bitcoin holdings for fiat currency. The company sold the coins for $936 million. Tesla estimates its remaining “digital assets” at $218 million.

Last February, the company was very optimistic about bitcoin. Not only did Tesla purchase $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency with its balance sheet capital but also planned to accept BTC as payment for its vehicles. Later, Elon Musk suddenly announced they were abandoning plans to accept crypto payments, expressing concern about bitcoin’s sustainability. Nevertheless, the EV giant didn’t ditch its crypto assets immediately. 

The company’s selloff comes amid the so-called crypto winter. A steep decline in the price of cryptocurrencies got aggravated by the crash of Terra stablecoin and the bankruptcies of leading crypto brokerages. At the same time, the company’s executives said the sale was not linked to crypto market volatility. They claim a desire to maximise cash positions during the economic uncertainty was the main reason.

“We are certainly open to increasing bitcoin holdings in future. So this should not be taken as some verdict on Bitcoin. It’s just that we were concerned about overall liquidity for the company given COVID shutdowns in China.”
Zachary Kirkhorn
Tesla CFO

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Nina Bobro

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https://payspacemagazine.com/

Nina is passionate about financial technologies and environmental issues, reporting on the industry news and the most exciting projects that build their offerings around the intersection of fintech and sustainability.