Tesla writes down bitcoin holdings by $23M
Tesla's bitcoin stash was worth $1.47B at the end of June
Tiger 21 chairman Michael Sonnenfeldt on his outlook for the markets this week, cryptocurrency and interest rates.
Tesla Inc. wrote down the value of its bitcoin holdings by $23 million in the second quarter.
The company has booked $50 million of bitcoin-related impairment charges this year and in March realized a gain of $128 million by selling some of its holdings. Tesla’s bitcoin holdings were worth $1.47 billion at the end of June.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TSLA | TESLA INC. | 320.72 | +9.54 | +3.07% |
The write-down was "much lower than many had feared," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, noting that some worried the size could be $75 million or more.
Tesla’s bitcoin holdings are not marked to market, meaning they only impact earnings if they are sold. Therefore, the sharp drop in bitcoin’s price is not reflected in the company’s quarterly results.
Bitcoin’s price plunged 43% during the three months through June to $33,572 a coin. The cryptocurrency finished Monday at $37,337.
Tesla in the six months through June purchased $1.5 billion of bitcoin and for a short period of time accepted the cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles. The company stopped accepting bitcoin amid concerns the mining of the cryptocurrency consumed too much energy.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said last week that his company would resume its acceptance of bitcoin if it is confirmed that the percentage of renewable energy usage is "most likely at or above 50%, and that there is a trend towards increasing that number."
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Tesla on Monday evening reported quarterly net income nearly doubled from a year ago to $1.1 billion. Total revenue was up 98% to $6.04 billion.
Shares were down 6.8% this year through Monday, lagging the S&P 500’s 18% gain.