Elon Musk’s Tesla Offloads N580.3 Billion Worth of Bitcoin in Q2

Elon Musk’s Tesla Offloads N580.3 Billion Worth of Bitcoin in Q2

  • Tesla, the electric car manufacturing company said it sold about $930 million worth of bitcoin in the second quarter of 2022
  • According to the CEO of the company, Elon Musk, the company offloaded most of its bitcoin to maxmise profits
  • The price of bitcoin dropped by about 1.7 per cent after the news emerged but went back up after Elon Musk made earnings call concerning Tesla

Elon Musk-owned electric car maker, Tesla offloaded about N380.230 billion worth of bitcoin in the second quarter of 2022, according to Coin Desk.

According to Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, the company sold most of its bitcoin to maximise its cash position due to the uncertainty of the COVID-19 lockdown in China.

Elon Musk, Tesla, Bitcoin
Tesla sold 75 per cent of its bitcoin holdings Credit: Justin Sullivan / Staff
Source: Getty Images

Tesla having supply chain problems

Musk added that the company is open to increasing its bitcoin orientation in the future and said that this should not be seen as a ruing on bitcoin. He said the company has sold any dogecoin.

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The Guardian reports that Tesla’s second-quarter income fell 32 per cent with the firm reporting about $26 net profit on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Musk had said he had a bad feeling about the economy and needed to sack some salaried workers.

The company has been struggling with global supply chain problems and economic issues.

Tesla had earlier this quarter shut down its Shanghai Gigafactory temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions which caused a drop in deliveries across the world.

Earnings call fluctuates price of bitcoin

Bitcoin price has fallen very sharply to about 1.7 per cent to trade at $23,300 after Tesla released the earnings report but went up again to its previous level after Musk announced the earnings.

The company ended the second quarter with about $218 million in bitcoin which is a drop from $1.26 billion in the three previous quarters, saying it realised a gain on the sale of its bitcoin holdings.

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Tesla held about 42,000 bitcoin as it went into the quarter, meaning it has sold off about 75 per cent of that amount for $936 million, meaning it sold the bitcoin at about $29,000 per bitcoin.

Bitcoin investors lose over N20.14 trillion in 24hrs as price fall below $40 for the first time since March

Legit.ng reported that Bitcoin investors lost over N20 trillion in one day as prices fell below $40k for the first time since March 16th, leading to nearly 150,000 traders being cleared of their positions.

The fall in bitcoin price comes as investors weigh the risks of rising interest rates, soaring inflation and dislocation of global commerce as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Bitcoin opened trading on Monday, March 11 with a market capitalisation of $803 billion before closing the day $754.5 billion as $48.4 billion was wiped out in hours.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Pascal Oparada avatar

Pascal Oparada (Business editor) For over a decade, Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy. He has worked in many media organizations such as Daily Independent, TheNiche newspaper, and the Nigerian Xpress. He is a 2018 PwC Media Excellence Award winner. Email:pascal.oparada@corp.legit.ng

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