Electric vehicle maker Tesla said yesterday it recorded a $170 million charge to its accounts to record the depreciation in bitcoin’s value during the first half of the year. Over the same period, the group led by Elon Musk made a gain of 64 million dollars thanks to the sale of bitcoins, is it detailed in a document sent to the American stock market policeman (SEC). The company had created the surprise at the beginning of 2021 by buying the equivalent of 1.5 billion dollars in bitcoins.
When reporting its results last week, Tesla had already announced that it sold 75% of its bitcoin during the second quarter, which brought it back $936 million in cash. It also indicated that it had recorded a charge related to the virtual currency, but did not specify the amount. As of June 30, 2022, the market value of the company’s remaining bitcoin assets was $222 million. During a phone call with Wall Street analysts last week to present Tesla’s quarterly results, Musk made it clear that recent bitcoin sales did not signal a mistrust of the cryptocurrency. “We are open to the idea of increasing our bitcoin assets in the future,” assured the billionaire. “We were just worried regarding the overall liquidity of the company due to the shutdowns in China and we did not sell any of our dogecoin (another cryptocurrency appreciated by Mr. Musk, editor’s note)”, added the whimsical leader . Since its peak in November 2021, bitcoin has lost nearly 70% of its value in a market wary of assets deemed risky.
Tesla also indicated, in its stock market filing, that it had received a second subpoena from the SEC related to an agreement theoretically obliging it to have its messages directly related to Tesla’s activity approved by a competent lawyer, before post them on social media. This obligation had been imposed by the SEC following a tweet published in 2018, in which Mr. Musk ensured that he had the appropriate funding to withdraw Tesla from the Stock Exchange, without providing proof. The SEC had sent a first request in November 2021 and returned a second in mid-June, with both requesting information on “governance processes intended to verify compliance” with the agreement.
Electric vehicle maker Tesla said yesterday it recorded a $170 million charge to its accounts to record the depreciation in bitcoin’s value during the first half of the year. Over the same period, the group led by Elon Musk made a gain of $64 million from the sale of bitcoins, is it detailed in a document…
