Tesla announced that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoins. At the time, the carmaker explained that it had updated its “investment policy to provide greater flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on its cash that is not needed to maintain adequate operational liquidity.”
This information, contained in financial documents sent to the American regulatory and market control body, revealed the American company’s great interest in this crypto-currency. This interest continued later with the acceptance of Bitcoin as a means of payment for the purchase of a car from the brand.
Buying a Tesla with Bitcoins is not possible
The value of Tesla’s digital assets has fluctuated as the crypto market jolts. A turmoil that has proved profitable for the group, as its portfolio of units is worth more, reports Electrek, a site that closely follows Tesla news. New financial documents indicate that Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings have increased.
“During the year ended 31 December 2021, we purchased and received $1.50 billion of bitcoins. [We recorded impairment losses of $101 million on these digital assets. We also realized gains of $128 million on the sale of a portion of our holdings in March 2021,” Tesla commented“.
While the book value of its digital assets was $1.26 billion as of December 31, 2021, its market value was $1.99 billion. In doing so, Tesla’s investment in crypto is a successful bet for the time being, even if the price of the digital currency has become much more unpredictable over the past year.
Currently, the ability to purchase a Tesla car with bitcoins is no longer possible. “We have concerns about the rapid increase in fossil fuels that are used to mine bitcoins and issue transactions, in part coal, which is the worst emission,” the company said in a statement.
However, it appears that despite these environmental concerns, Tesla does not intend to disengage from cryptocurrencies for the time being, according to the information provided in the financial documents sent to the American stock exchange authorities. On the contrary, the interest in Bitcoin has also reached SpaceX, another of Elon Musk’s firms.
