Tesla Holds $184 Million In Digital Assets, Sells Bitcoin Amid China Uncertainty

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk sprang in a surprise in early 2021 when the company revealed in its 10-K report for the fiscal year 2020 that it invested an aggregate of $1.5 billion of cash in Bitcoin (NYSE:BTC).

The company also left open the scope of acquiring and holding digital assets from time to time or long term.

Tesla did not transact in Bitcoin, nor in buy or sale transactions, in the second quarter, the earnings release showed. The balance sheet showed that as of June 30, 2023, it held digital assets, net, of $184 million, the same as in the previous two quarters.

CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said on the earnings call for the second quarter of 2022 that the company sold a “bunch of our bitcoin holdings,” attributing the action to the uncertainty surrounding the alleviation of COVID-19 lockdowns in China.

“So it was important for us to maximize our cash position, given the uncertainty of the COVID lockdowns in China,” he said then.

The executive, however, said the company is open to increasing its Bitcoin holdings in the future. He also suggested the sale does not represent the company’s bearishness on the crypto.

Tesla executives did not shed any details on the company’s digital asset holdings on Wednesday’s earnings call.

Musk, though is positive about cryptocurrencies in general, has expressed his preference for Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE).

He said in a Times interview in 2021 that Doge has a better transaction value than Bitcoin. He noted that the transactional volume of Bitcoin is low, while the transaction cost is high.

Bitcoin rallied 8.7% in the second quarter, as the risk-on mood took hold of the financial market amid expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will pause.

At last check, Bitcoin rose 0.21% to $30,161.19, according to data from Zenger News Pro.

Produced in association with Benzinga

Edited by Saba Fatima and Maham Javaid