Elon Musk’s Tesla sells most of its Bitcoin holdings

The majority of Tesla’s holdings have now been sold off after the company made headlines last year when it reported a large investment in Bitcoin.

The electric car company sold 75% of its Bitcoin, which had a value of around $2 billion (£1.7 billion) at the end of 2021.

It is pulling back as the cryptocurrency’s value has plummeted, plunging by more than 50% this year.

At that point, Tesla said that it spent $936 million (£782 million) from its Bitcoin sales on conventional money.

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.

Interest in the currency increased after Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, which was made public in February 2021. The famously unstable cryptocurrency’s price surged to almost $70,000 in November of last year before plummeting.

One bitcoin is currently worth less than USD 25,000.

Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin as payment for its automobiles this year, citing concerns about how Bitcoin mining, which consumes a lot of electricity, may damage the environment.

Mr Musk recently stated on social media that the company would not be selling its Bitcoin holdings.

In its normal quarterly statement, Tesla reported the sale of the stakes. It said that Bitcoin was one of the factors harming company profitability.

However, for the three months ending in June, the company reported a higher-than-expected profit as price increases on its best-selling vehicles helped to offset challenges such as the Chinese lockdown.

There were also predictions for a “record-breaking second half” of the year. Tesla reported that production at its manufacturing facility in China climbed to a monthly record after COVID-19 limits were announced.

The company’s most recent factories in the US and Germany, according to Mr Musk, produced more. The locations in Austin, Texas, and Berlin were once referred to as “gigantic money furnaces.”

The cost of Tesla shares has dropped by about 40% so far this year.