Image: bitcoin.com

Tesla has sold some of its Bitcoin but is still open to increasing holdings in BTC in the future, Elon Musk said. He also clarified that the company has not sold a single Dogecoin.

During the Q2 2022 Earnings Call, Tesla announced that it had converted the majority (75%) of its Bitcoin assets into fiat “for a realized gain, offset by impairment charges on the remainder of our holdings, netting a $106 million cost to the P&L included within restructuring and other.” The company's CEO, Elon Musk, clarified that the reason Tesla sold some of its Bitcoin holdings was due the company not knowing when COVID-19 restrictions in China would ease. For three weeks in April, China was under the most severe lockdown since this disease was first discovered in 2019.

Musk said it was important for the company to maximize its cash position given the uncertainty due to the lockdown in China. Despite the sale, he confirmed that the company is open to increasing its Bitcoin holdings in the future. The head of the company noted that the sale of Bitcoin should not be taken as a kind of verdict on the cryptocurrency. In addition, Musk said that Tesa did not sell any of its Dogecoin.

"It should be mentioned that the reason we sold a bunch of our Bitcoin holdings was that we were uncertain as to when the COVID lockdowns in China would alleviate. So it was important for us to maximize our cash position, given the uncertainty of the COVID lockdowns in China. We are certainly open to increasing our Bitcoin holdings in the future. So this should not be taken as some verdict on Bitcoin. It's just that we were concerned about overall liquidity for the company given COVID shutdowns in China. And we have not sold any of our Dogecoins."

Musk also explained to investors that the cryptocurrency itself is not of great importance for the company, because Tesla's main goal is to accelerate “the advent of sustainable energy.” Thus, cryptocurrency is not at all what the company really thinks about. Current issues include: scaling production and accelerating the advent of sustainable energy.

“Tesla’s goal is to accelerate the advent of sustainable energy. We are not really – cryptocurrency is a sideshow to the sideshow. So, it’s – we are not a – cryptocurrency is not something we think about a lot. We think a lot about scaling production and accelerating the advent of sustainable energy, which the record heat waves around Earth, so to emphasize the urgency of that transition. So that is what we are trying to do is make electric vehicles and solar and stationary storage battery packs. But the three pillars of a sustainable energy future, which is like solar and wind for energy generation, stationary battery packs for storage of the solar energy because of its intermittency and then electric vehicles, the third pillar. And if those three things are solved, we have a sustainable future for civilization. And the fundamental good of Tesla and the reason we’re doing this, so certainly, my primary motivation here is to have the day of sustainable energy comes sooner. That’s our goal. We’re neither here nor there on cryptocurrency.”

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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