Tesla's £113.5m loss on Bitcoin investments
Tesla’s £113.5m loss on Bitcoin investments
Tesla’s £113.5m loss on Bitcoin investments
Tesla incurred $140m loss on Bitcoin investments in 2022, holds $184m remaining.
According to a filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on Jan. 31, Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, experienced a loss of £113.5m ($140m) on its Bitcoin investments in 2022. The company has informed the US regulator that it incurred a total loss of $204m on Bitcoin, although it recovered $64m through trading.
In early 2021, Tesla invested $1.5bn in Bitcoin, with CEO Elon Musk announcing that it would be accepted as a form of payment. However, the company changed its stance a few weeks later and has since sold most of its Bitcoin holdings. Currently, Tesla holds approximately $184m of Bitcoin.
Elon Musk has been a prominent advocate for cryptocurrency, with his statements on social media frequently affecting trading activity. In February 2021, Tesla’s purchase of Bitcoin caused its price to soar by over 25% to a record high of $48,000. The cryptocurrency’s value rose once again in March 2021, when Mr. Musk announced that Tesla would allow customers to make car purchases using Bitcoin.
However, two months later, Tesla reversed its decision, citing environmental concerns, which caused the cryptocurrency’s value to fall by over 10%. According to the UK Treasury, Bitcoin’s global energy consumption is estimated to be 39% of the UK’s, and some estimates suggest it is even higher. In November 2022, the cryptocurrency’s price reached nearly $70,000, but it plummeted by over 50% when Tesla decided to sell most of its holdings.
