Elon Musk doesn’t appear to be hoarding Tesla’s bitcoin during a crypto winter.
During the company’s second-quarter earnings report, the electric vehicle manufacturer revealed that it had sold 75 percent of its Bitcoin holdings this quarter. The coins were sold for $963 million.
Tesla’s remaining “digital assets” are worth $218 million, according to the company.
The company announced in February of last year that it had purchased $1.5 billion in cryptocurrency with its balance sheet capital and that it would soon accept Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles. That announcement sent the crypto markets into a frenzy, driving up the prices of several cryptocurrencies and cementing Musk’s position as the de facto crypto leader. Later, when he abruptly announced that they would no longer accept cryptocurrency payments, much of their goodwill with the community was squandered.
The company’s selloff follows a steep drop in the price of cryptocurrencies across the board, including Bitcoin and Dogecoin, which Musk has personally supported on social media and in his role as Tesla CEO.
The company’s executives stated on an earnings call that the sale was motivated by a desire to maximize cash positions during the uncertainty of China’s COVID lockdowns.
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“We are certainly open to expanding our bitcoin holdings in the future.” As a result, this should not be interpreted as a verdict on Bitcoin. “We were just concerned about overall liquidity for the company given the COVID shutdowns in China,” Tesla CFO Zachary Kirkhorn explained.
The company’s Q2 earnings report, which exceeded expectations with a profit of $2.26 billion, had little impact on the stock price in after-hours trading at the time of writing.
