Key Takeaways
- Tesla states that there exist no impairment charges to the value of its bitcoin holdings
- In July, in the second quarter, Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin, approximately 75% of its holdings.
Leading electric car manufacturer Tesla revealed that its Bitcoin holdings had remained unchanged throughout the third quarter. In a report released on October 19, the Elon-Musk owned company stated that it still holds $218 million in Bitcoin.
Tesla also added that there exist no impairment charges to the value of its bitcoin holdings, as the price of BTC remained almost the same at the end of both the second and third quarters at slightly under $20,000.
In February last year, Tesla announced in an SEC filing that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin, causing the value of BTC to surge. Later in that first quarter, Tesla cut down its bitcoin position by 10%, a sale that boosted that quarter’s earnings by approximately $272 million. The e-car maker had not bought or sold any more BTC until 2022’s second quarter.
In July, in the second quarter, Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin, which is approximately 75% of its holdings. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the sale was made to maximize its cash position “given the uncertainty of the COVID lockdowns in China.” Tesla also ended the second quarter with just $218 million in bitcoin, down from $1.26 billion in the previous three quarters.
Despite these numbers, Tesla still remains one of the largest holders of Bitcoin by a publicly traded company, after Michael J. Saylor founded MicroStrategy with 130,000 BTC and Galaxy Digital Holdings with 16,400 BTC. For the third quarter, Tesla’s Revenue was $21.45 billion versus the $22.09 billion estimate. Shares of the e-car maker fell more than 5% following the announcement of its revenue miss.
Recently, a leading analytics company MicroStrategy founded by crypto enthusiast Michael J Saylor announced it had purchased 301 Bitcoin between August 2, 2022, and September 19, 2022. The latest Bitcoin purchase by the firm comes after the company announced that co-founder Michael Saylor would step down from the CEO role and take up the executive chairman title.
