thecryptobasic.com
Tesla sold $936 million worth of Bitcoin in Q2 2022.
Leading electric motor company Tesla in its latest earnings report, disclosed that it had sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings to strengthen its liquidity over concerns of persisting covid lockdowns in China.
“As of the end of Q2, we have converted approximately 75% of our Bitcoin purchases into fiat currency. Conversions in Q2 added $936M of cash to our balance sheet,” the company writes in its report.
“The reason we sold a bunch of our bitcoin holdings was that we were uncertain as to when the covid lockdowns in China would alleviate so it was important for us to maximize our cash position,” CEO Elon Musk said on Wednesday, explaining the move according to a CNBC report. “This should be not taken as some verdict on Bitcoin.”
Additionally, Musk reportedly confirms that the firm has not sold any of its Dogecoin holdings.
It is worth noting that the firm purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin early last year while also briefly accepting it for payments before reversing the decision in May over energy concerns. Meanwhile, the firm currently accepts Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency favored by Tesla chief Elon Musk as a means of payment for select Tesla merchandise. Consequently, the company’s statements reveal it has only about $218 million left in digital assets.
The report of the Bitcoin sale took most of the crypto community by surprise, as Musk had said last May that the firm would not sell its Bitcoin. However, following the report, the latest crypto rally appears to be losing steam.
At the time of writing, the entire crypto market cap sits at about $1.03 trillion, down 4.25% in the last 24 hours. Additionally, Bitcoin has slipped below the $23k price point and is down 3.29% in the last 24 hours after reaching the $24k price point on Wednesday.