Tesla, which caused a stir when it disclosed a sizable investment in Bitcoin last year, has now sold off most of its holdings. The electric car manufacturer sold 75% of its Bitcoin, valued at $2 billion at the end of 2021.
It is pulling back as the cryptocurrency’s value has plummeted, falling by more than 50% this year.
The company has said that they have bought traditional currency with $936 million from its Bitcoin sales.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has been one of the most well-known proponents of cryptocurrencies, and his comments on social media frequently spark major trading activity.
Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, which was revealed in February 2021, increased public interest in the currency. The cryptocurrency’s price surged to almost $70,000 in November of last year before going south. As of now, one bitcoin is trading for less than $25,000.
“Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin”: Musk said last year
Tesla this year ceased taking Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing worries about how the energy-intensive Bitcoin mining will affect the environment.
“Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin,” Elon Musk tweeted to tell the public of his position on Bitcoin last year.
However, the company did end up selling most of its Bitcoin regardless of its CEO’s comment on his stance towards Bitcoin last year.
Musk said it is more about the money rather than Bitcoin
The decision is yet more terrible news for Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry in general. Musk is a proponent of cryptocurrencies and was instrumental in promoting ones like Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
Musk claimed that the company’s decision was more about the need for money than it was about Bitcoin.
The sale of the stakes was disclosed by Tesla as part of its customary quarterly update. It said that one of the things hurting its profitability was Bitcoin.
The company did, however, report a higher-than-anticipated profit for the three months ending in June as price rises on its best-selling vehicles helped to offset difficulties, such as Chinese lockdowns.
The company, even so, promised a “record-breaking second half” of the year.
As COVID-19 restrictions ceased, Tesla said that production at its manufacturing in China increased to a monthly record.
He even referred to the manufacturing sites in Berlin and Austin, Texas as “gigantic money furnaces”. This year, the price of Tesla stock has decreased by almost 40%.