Tesla announces they sold 75% of their Bitcoin

Tesla announced in their Q2 financial report that they had sold about 75% of the Bitcoin they had been holding. The company first bought $1.5 billion of Bitcoin in January 2021, at between $30,000 and $40,000, but sold 10% of that shortly after.

In their report, Tesla stated that "Conversions in Q2 added $936M to our balance sheet." Assuming this is all Bitcoin, this suggests Tesla sold at around $28,900 — a 7–10% decrease from their buy price. The company stated in a shareholder presentation that the "Bitcoin impairment" had damaged the company's Q2 profitability.

This is grim news for some crypto enthusiasts, a group that overlaps considerably with Tesla and Musk superfans. Musk's Bitcoin purchases helped to convince many new people to buy in, and the news of Tesla's decision caused a sharp 2.5% decrease in Bitcoin prices.