Tesla sells off 75% of its Bitcoin amid a cold crypto winter

Tesla sells off 75% of its Bitcoin amid a cold crypto winter
FILE PHOTO: A representation of the virtual cryptocurrency Bitcoin is seen in this picture illustration taken October 19, 2021. REUTERS/Edgar Su/File Photo

Crypto isn’t doing so hot right now. This year, Bitcoin has lost around half of its value; Celsius Network, a crypto lender, just went bankrupt; and Zipmex, a crypto exchange, just recently halted all withdrawals. We’re officially in what has been dubbed a “crypto winter.”

With that, Tesla, the brainchild car company of the richest rocket man out there (no, not Elton John), sold off around three-quarters of its crypto holdings in the second quarter of 2022. The selloff added nearly a billion dollars in cash to Tesla’s balance sheet, with its second quarter report saying that the company still had a little over US$200 million in “digital assets” on hand.

Tesla only bought the cryptocurrency last year after announcing that it would take Bitcoin as payment. But after that rolled out in March, the company changed course in May, and despite Elon Musk’s promises that he’s a pumper and not a dumper, the company has sold lots of it.

Key comments:

“As of the end of Q2, we have converted approximately 75% of our Bitcoin purchases into fiat currency,” the company wrote in an investor’s deck. “Conversions in Q2 added $936M of cash to our balance sheet.”

“I might pump but I don’t dump,” said Musk one year ago. “I definitely do not believe in getting the price high and selling or anything like that. I would like to see Bitcoin succeed.”