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International Business Times
International Business Times
Business
Nica Osorio

Holding The Line: Tesla Stays Resolute On Bitcoin In Q4 Earnings Report

Tesla Q4 and full year 2023 Financial Results and Q&A Webcast (Credit: YouTube Screenshot/ Tesla Official YouTube Chanel)

Tesla, the renowned American electric vehicle manufacturer helmed by the visionary tech magnate Elon Musk, implicitly reiterated its unwavering position in the cryptocurrency arena, notably regarding Bitcoin evident in its latest quarterly earnings report, which revealed that it refrained from both selling and acquiring BTC throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter of the previous year.

Tesla Inc.'s fourth-quarter report noticeably omitted any mention of Bitcoin-related activities, underlining the company's continued ownership of its significant Bitcoin holdings, totaling 9,720 BTC.

The conspicuous absence of any reference to the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization strongly implies that Tesla refrained from engaging in any conversions of its Bitcoin assets into fiat currency during this reporting period.

Based on data compiled by Bitcoin Treasuries, Tesla currently possesses a substantial Bitcoin reserve totaling more than 9,720 BTC.

Remarkably, the electric vehicle giant ranks as the third-largest public entity holding this cryptocurrency, trailing behind mining entity Marathon (MARA) and software company MicroStrategy (MSTR), which is currently the world's largest corporate Bitcoin holder with 189,150 BTC.

Tesla embarked on its Bitcoin venture in February 2021, making a significant investment of $1.5 billion to acquire approximately 43,000 BTC.

This strategic move took place following a conversation between Musk and Michael Saylor, the then-CEO of MicroStrategy.

After acquiring Bitcoin, Tesla embraced Bitcoin as a means of payment but later revised its stance due to mounting concerns surrounding its environmental impact.

In the second quarter of 2022, Tesla made a significant Bitcoin transaction by divesting a substantial portion of its holdings.

This move led to a remarkable 75% reduction in Tesla's Bitcoin portfolio, amounting to the sale of Bitcoin assets valued at approximately $936 million.

During the final quarter of the previous year, Tesla achieved a total revenue of $25.2 billion, marking a 3% year-on-year increase as per its Q4 report.

Notably, the company reported earnings amounting to 71 cents per share for the same quarter, falling slightly short of the analysts' projected figure of 74 cents per share.

At 9:17 a.m. ET on Friday, Bitcoin was observed trading at a price of $41,139.97, accompanied by a robust 24-hour trading volume of $22,347,418,926.

In the context of its recent performance, Bitcoin has demonstrated noteworthy resilience, posting a notable 2.87% increase in its value over the course of the day.

Moreover, over the past seven days, it has recorded a modest yet positive gain of 0.22%.

It's essential to underline that Bitcoin's current circulating supply remains relatively stable at 19,609,225 BTC.

Notably, Bitcoin continues to assert its dominance in the crypto market, maintaining its position as the largest crypto asset globally with an impressive market capitalization of $806,995,188,798, based on the latest data from CoinMarketCap.

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