Tesla sells most of its Bitcoin after Musk said he doesn't dump
BNN Bloomberg
Tesla sold a significant chunk of its Bitcoin holding, an investment that helped legitimize the world’s largest electronic currency.
The carmaker had converted roughly 75 per cent of its Bitcoin to fiat currency as of the end of June, adding US$936 million of cash to its balance sheet, according to its shareholder letter on second-quarter earnings. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said on a call with analysts that the company sold due to uncertainty as to when Covid shutdowns would lift in China.
“This should not be taken as some verdict on Bitcoin,” Musk said. “It’s just that we were concerned about overall liquidity of the company given the Covid shutdowns in China.”
Musk, 51, emerged as a major influencer in cryptocurrency last year, tweeting favorably about Dogecoin and posting photos of his dog Floki, which like the Dogecoin mascot is a Shiba Inu. When Tesla held a massive party for its new Austin factory in April, a drone show featured a Dogecoin image.
