Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, has filed an annual report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showing bitcoin holdings with a fair value of nearly $2 billion at the end of December. The company sees crypto as both an investment and a liquid alternative to cash.
Tesla Has $2 Billion in Bitcoin
Tesla on Friday filed an annual report with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“We continue to adapt our investment strategy to meet our liquidity and risk objectives, such as investing in US government and other marketable securities, digital assets, and providing product-related financing,” the company wrote.
The fair market value of our bitcoin holdings as of December 31, 2021 was $1.99 billion.
Reports suggest that Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021 and later accepted the cryptocurrency as payment for certain products in some regions. However, the electric car company stopped accepting BTC in May last year. In October, Tesla told the SEC that it might resume accepting cryptocurrencies.
Tesla’s latest financial statement showed the company’s bitcoin “carrying value” at the end of December was $1.26 billion, reflecting a cumulative loss of $101 million. Tesla had “$17.58 billion in cash and cash equivalents” as of December 31. The company noted:
In the year ended December 31, 2021, we recorded a loss of approximately $101 million as a result of changes in the carrying value of our bitcoins and a $128 million gain on some of the bitcoin sales we made.
“We may increase or decrease our holdings of digital assets at any time based on business needs and our view of market and environmental conditions,” the electric car company further told the SEC, elaborating:
We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets as an investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash.
Tesla’s 2021 annual report does not include income from the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE), which the company began accepting payments for certain merchandise in January of this year. Elon Musk has stated on several occasions that Dogecoin is the best crypto for transactions while Bitcoin is more suitable as a store of value.
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