Not long ago, Tesla – the electric car company brought to the financial forefront by South African entrepreneur Elon Musk – announced it had sold a lot of its bitcoin. No doubt the company experienced heavy losses given that when it first bought BTC in 2021, the asset was trading in the $50K range.
Elon Musk Will Still Buy BTC in the Future
Now, bitcoin is not even half that and trading for about $24,000 per unit, though Elon Musk says that his company would be open to buying more BTC in the future given the circumstances were right. He also commented that cryptocurrency was the “side show to the side show.”
In recent financial filings, the electric car company explained that roughly three quarters of its bitcoin stash has been sold. The reason for the sale has to do with Musk being concerned about ongoing COVID lockdowns in China. He isn’t sure when they’re going to end, and he wants to make sure the company’s cash position is solid in the coming months.
In a recent interview, Musk commented:
We are certainly open to increasing our bitcoin holdings in [the] future, so this should not be taken as some verdict on bitcoin. It’s just that we were concerned about the overall liquidity of the company given the shutdowns in China.
Staying true to his love of Dogecoin, Musk was quick to state that Tesla did not sell any of its Doge holdings and that those units remain in place regardless of the price dips the asset has incurred. He went on to say:
Cryptocurrency is a sideshow to the side show. Cryptocurrency is not something we think about a lot. The fundamental goal of Tesla and the reason we’re doing this, which is my primary motivation here, is to have the day of sustainable energy come sooner. That’s our goal. We’re neither here nor there on cryptocurrency.
Musk claims they don’t think much about crypto at Tesla, yet his words seem to contradict the company’s actions given Tesla was quite ready at one point to fully accept bitcoin for electric vehicles. This was later rescinded as Musk was worried about how much energy was being used to mine BTC and what damage it was doing to the planet.
There Seems to Be A LOT of Crypto Talk…
Musk himself has talked about cryptocurrencies quite a bit, suggesting they are always in his thoughts. When it comes to Dogecoin, for example, Musk has made it clear that the asset is arguably his favorite, and the entrepreneur has referred to it as the “people’s crypto.” There was also a brief period where Musk was believed to be in line to take over as the new Dogecoin CEO, though this later turned out to be simple internet fodder.
In any case, Musk certainly seems to be at the forefront of several crypto initiatives.
