The list of victims of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency crash continues to grow every day. Tesla (TSLA), the manufacturer of electric vehicles is now part of it.
Elon Musk's company had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin on February 8, 2021. This investment lost a lot of value as cryptocurrency prices plummeted. Bitcoin has fallen and is currently trading at its lowest level since December 2020.
Bitcoin is at $22,499.99, compared to $69,044.77 reached last November. In eight months, Bitcoin has lost 67.5% of its value.
This fall caused important losses to Tesla.
The value of the 43,200 bitcoins that the group has on its balance sheet is now only $968.103 million, according to Bitcoin Treasuries. Tesla has already lost around $530 million. It would therefore make sense for the vehicle maker to announce a depreciation charge related to this digital asset at least when announcing its second-quarter results in July.
Tesla claimed that its investment in Bitcoin was aimed at diversifying its sources of liquidity and gaining flexibility.
Billionaire Saylor's MicroStrategy Lost over $1 Billion
For several months, the gamble paid off, especially when the price hit an all-time high of $69,044.77 on Nov. 10. But now it's the flip side.
Besides Tesla, billionaire Michael Saylor's software company MicroStrategy (MSTR) has also seen its Bitcoin investment lose a lot of value.
The company has 129,218 bitcoins on its balance sheet, purchased at a value of $3.97 billion. But that value has melted down to $2.895 billion. Basically MicroStrategy lost over a billion dollars.
Finally, the other big name to have invested in Bitcoin is Block (SQ), Jack Dorsey's fintech, formerly known as Square. The firm holds 8,027 bitcoins purchased at $220 million. They are now only worth $179.883 million, according to Bitcoin Treasuries.
Block lost nearly $40 million.
