Electric vehicle maker Tesla sold most of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings in the second quarter, according to new financial disclosures released on Wednesday.
“As of the end of Q2, we have converted approximately 75% of our Bitcoin purchases into fiat currency,” Tesla said in its quarterly report. “Conversions in Q2 added $936M of cash to our balance sheet.”
According to the financial statements, Tesla’s net Bitcoin holdings were relatively stable for three consecutive quarters. By the end of March, Tesla had $1.261 billion worth of digital assets on its books. Following the liquidation, the firm now has $218 million in digital asset exposure.
As Cointelegraph reported, the electric vehicle maker sold a portion of its BTC reserves in March 2021, realizing a net profit of $128 million. At the time, CEO Elon Musk explained that the sale, which amounted to 10% of Tesla’s holdings, was to “prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet.”
Just two months prior, in January, Tesla became one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin after it acquired $1.5 billion worth of BTC. The purchase was disclosed in a February filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. At the time, Tesla also had plans to accept BTC payments, but those plans were later scrapped due to concerns about Bitcoin’s energy usage.
For its fiscal second quarter, Tesla reported adjusted per share earnings of $2.27 on revenues of $16.93 billion. Automotive gross margins were down compared with the first quarter and a year ago due to inflation and growing competition for electric vehicle components, such as battery cells.
Source: Cointelegraph
