How Many Bitcoins Does Tesla Have?
Tesla is a US-based automotive and energy company founded in 2003, and entrepreneur Elon Musk is among its founders. The company is headquartered in California, USA. Tesla primarily produces electric cars and is one of the leading companies in this field. Tesla cars stand out for their high performance, long range, and eco-friendly features. Moreover, Tesla is a pioneer in autonomous driving technologies. The company also conducts research in renewable energy technologies.
Elon Musk, who has been the founder and CEO of many companies such as PayPal, Tesla Motors, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, is interested in cryptocurrencies as well as eco-friendly energy technologies, space exploration, and human-centered artificial intelligence. He often makes headlines with his tweets about Bitcoin and Dogecoin, which cause significant fluctuations in the cryptocurrency market. In 2021, Tesla invested in Bitcoin.
Tesla Invests in Bitcoin
According to previous financial reports, Tesla bought a large amount of BTC (about $1.5B worth of BTC) in the first nine months of 2021. Moreover, in states where cryptocurrency payments are legal, Tesla allowed its customers to pay using Bitcoin for certain products, including electric cars. However, this practice was suspended in May 2021. On the other hand, the average dollar cost of the $1.5B purchase in 2021 was not disclosed. According to unofficial market estimates, the average dollar cost of Tesla’s BTC purchases in 2021 was $34,200. Based on the unofficial average dollar cost, Tesla bought about 44,000 BTC in 2021.
Tesla Reduces Bitcoin Holdings in Its Portfolio
In July 2022, Elon Musk announced that Tesla had decided to convert its Bitcoin assets. However, Musk said that the decision was not directly related to Bitcoin and was taken to improve the company's liquidity problem due to uncertainty regarding COVID-19 restrictions affecting Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory in China. Given this uncertainty, we can say that it was worthwhile for the company to sell 75% of its Bitcoin assets to solve its liquidity problem. Thus, the company generated about $936M in revenue.
Did Tesla Buy or Sell BTC in Q1 of 2023?
With the end of the first quarter of the year, Tesla's balance sheet attracted attention once again. On April 19, 2023, Tesla released its Q1 financial report. According to the new report, Tesla's revenue increased by 24% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the first quarter of 2022, reaching $23.3B. In 2022, the company earned a total of $18.8B in revenue in the first quarter and set a record with $24.3B in the last quarter. The company's car production increased by 44% on an annual basis, and the number of cars delivered increased by 36%. Despite the car production and delivery data, the company's earnings per share declined. Tesla's earnings per share, which were $1.07 in the first quarter of 2022, fell to $0.73 in the first quarter of 2023.
In February 2021, Tesla purchased $1.5B worth of Bitcoin. In March 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the cars produced by the company could now be bought using Bitcoins in the United States. However, Tesla soon backed down from this decision.
According to Tesla’s Q1 report, the company did not buy or sell any Bitcoin in the 1st quarter of 2023.
