On Wednesday, the recent earnings report of the U.S. automobile maker, Tesla, unveiled that its Bitcoin reserves have remained consistent during the third quarter. Tesla's decision to neither acquire nor dispose of any Bitcoin over the past three months underscores this stability. By the conclusion of September, these holdings were pegged at a value of $184 million, marking an unaltered stance for five successive quarters.
Drawing data from bitcointreasury.net, Tesla's vault holds approximately 9,720 bitcoins, positioning it as the third highest bitcoin asset holder among publicly traded firms. Only two enterprises, MicroStrategy and Marathon Digital Holdings, surpass Tesla in this metric.
Back in February 2021, under the leadership of Elon Musk, Tesla made waves in the financial sector by plunging $1.5 billion into bitcoin. Their audacious move encompassed the acquisition of nearly 43,000 tokens. Furthermore, in a display of confidence towards the cryptocurrency, Tesla declared that it would accommodate bitcoin as a legitimate payment method.
However, in a surprising turn, the carmaker revisited its earlier stance. In the initial 2021 quarter, Tesla parted with 4,320 of its bitcoin assets. Later, it went on to offload 75% of the residual stash, incurring a significant financial setback.
For the period spanning July to September, Tesla announced a net profit of $1.85 billion. When compared to the same timeframe in the preceding year, this constitutes a 44% drop. This slide is also evident in its earnings per share, which descended from 95 cents to 53 cents.
Switching focus to Elon Musk, his relationship with the crypto community has been a roller coaster. His controversial remarks on Dogecoin in 2021 stirred debates, and his criticism over Bitcoin's environmental concerns was believed to have triggered a price dip.
Nevertheless, the broader crypto sphere continues to view Musk predominantly in a favorable light, recognizing his overall contribution to cryptocurrency discourse.