- In February 2021, Tesla, led by technology entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, announced the purchase of approximately $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin for its balance sheet.
- Last year in July, Tesla sold around 75% of its Bitcoin holdings, causing the BTC price to drop by over 50%.
- Tesla’s earnings report for the second quarter of 2023 will be announced after the closing of US markets today. The expected revenue for Tesla’s Q2 earnings report is $24.2 billion.
Tesla continues to hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet. Today, Tesla’s earnings report will be announced; could Tesla have bought Bitcoin?
Tesla Bought Bitcoin Two Years Ago
In February 2021, Tesla, led by technology entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk, announced the purchase of approximately $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin for its balance sheet. This led to an increase of over 25% in the leading cryptocurrency, reaching $48,000, which was a new all-time high for Bitcoin at that time.
Following this, Musk announced in March that customers could purchase some Tesla products with Bitcoin by depositing at least $100 worth of Bitcoin for US buyers. However, two months later, Elon Musk reversed the plan to sell vehicles for BTC due to strong environmental concerns, which caused a drop in Bitcoin.
In late October of the same year, the leading cryptocurrency reached a new all-time high of around $69,000. This level has not been surpassed yet. In July last year, Tesla sold approximately 75% of its Bitcoin holdings, causing the BTC price to drop by over 50%.
As reported by COINOTAG earlier this year, Tesla has not sold any BTC since July 2022 and currently holds around $184 million worth of Bitcoin. In early 2022, Tesla attempted to sell its products with Elon Musk’s favorite meme cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. When this payment method gained popularity, the company continued to sell its products with BTC. The same year, SpaceX followed the same path, and both events boosted the price of DOGE.
Tesla’s Earnings Report Will Be Announced Today
Tesla’s earnings report for the second quarter of 2023 will be announced after the closing of US markets today. The expected revenue for Tesla’s Q2 earnings report is $24.2 billion. In the first quarter of 2023, Tesla achieved a revenue of $23.3 billion, which was below the expectation of $23.7 billion. The first-quarter reports were announced on April 19, and no changes were observed in Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings.
For the upcoming Tesla report, investors are relying on the possibility that it has not sold Bitcoin. However, there is an overlooked aspect: Could Tesla have bought Bitcoin?
Knowing the answer to this question is challenging, but positive developments in the US may have pushed Tesla to buy Bitcoin. These developments were significant; for example, many investment management companies, including BlackRock and Fidelity, applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF, raising investor expectations.
Furthermore, on July 13, Judge Torres in the SEC-Ripple case ruled that XRP is not a security, which was a bullish development for the crypto market. Considering the positive developments in the US, it is not impossible to imagine that Tesla may have bought Bitcoin.
The increase in institutional interest since June has affected nearly the entire US crypto market. There has been an increased interest in Bitcoin ETPs and Grayscale’s GBTC product, and institutions have been flocking to digital asset investment products. Digital asset investment products have seen significant inflows for the past four weeks.
