Tesla lost $140 million on its Bitcoin investments in 2022

On February 8, 2021, Tesla announced it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. The world’s largest electric automaker said it bought bitcoin for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.” But since then Bitcoin has lost more than half of its value from its peak of $69,000 in Nov. 2021.

Fast forward almost two years since the company made the purchase. Tesla reported it lost $140 million loss on its Bitcoin investments in 2022, according to filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Overall, Tesla said it lost a total of $204 million on Bitcoin, though it gained back $64 million through trading.

Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk once said bitcoin would be accepted as payment for its products as well. But the company changed course a few weeks later, and Tesla has since sold most of its Bitcoin holdings. Tesla revealed it now holds about $184m of Bitcoin, based on the price of bitcoin about two days ago.

Like gambling at casinos, Tesla made about $1 billion in profit two weeks after announcing its bitcoin investment, which many said was more profit than from selling EV cars in all of 2020. But Musk didn’t allow the short-term gain to distract him from Tesla. In a series of tweets, Musk said he recently said bitcoin “is simply a less dumb form of liquidity than cash.”

Musk also admitted that he’s an engineer and not an investor. He added that he doesn’t even own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla. He said, “Bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat money.”

“To be clear, I am *not* an investor, I am an engineer. I don’t even own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla. However, when fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere. Bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat money. The key word is “almost.”

To be clear, I am *not* an investor, I am an engineer. I don’t even own any publicly traded stock besides Tesla.

However, when fiat currency has negative real interest, only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere.

Bitcoin is almost as bs as fiat money. The key word is “almost”.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 19, 2021