Tesla’s bold foray into the Bitcoin (BTC) market has been paying off in 2021 as BTC’s price has been rallying in October to hit over $58,000 on Oct. 14.
Tesla currently holds roughly 43,200 BTC, worth roughly $2.5 billion at today’s prices, according to online monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries. This is approximately 65% or $1 billion more than what the carmaker paid in February when Elon Musk’s company revealed that it had added $1.5 billion in BTC to its balance sheet.
BTC/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView
In Q2, Tesla sold 10% of its Bitcoin holdings — about 46,000 BTC — at a reported average price of around $50,000 per token. In its Q2 earnings report, the company notified that it had booked gains worth $128 million from its Bitcoin sale.
Tesla made first billion in profit in Q2 from selling cars
Following the latest Bitcoin price rebound, Tesla’s net profits from its crypto holdings came out to be as much as its income from Q2.
In detail, Tesla reported $1.14 billion in net profit for Q2, the first time it ever crossed the $1-billion mark. The income was a part of $11.96 billion in revenue that Tesla made mostly by selling cars — about $10.21 billion. The remaining $354 million came from the sales of regulatory credits.
Tesla revealed on Oct. 1 that it had delivered 241,300 electric vehicles during Q3, compared to 201,250 vehicles in the previous quarter. Combined with Tesla’s Bitcoin profits, expectations are high for blockbuster earnings set to be released after the market closes on Oct. 19.
“We think Q3 will be TSLA’s strongest quarter ever,” said Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Potter.
Will other companies follow?
Thus far, Tesla’s Bitcoin strategy has been very successful, providing a case study of how other corporates could replace a portion of their cash reserves with BTC.
That said, several companies that invested in Bitcoin before Tesla have seen even greater gains.
For instance, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy purchased around $3.15 billion worth of Bitcoin in multiple buying rounds. With its first purchase dating backing to Aug. 11, 2020, the company’s net Bitcoin profits are now near $6.3 billion, almost doubling its investment.
Jack Dorsey’s payment service firm, Square, has also seen considerable gains from holding Bitcoin, now worth over $442 million from its $220-million investment.
Additionally, Canada-based crypto mining firm Hut 8 Mining Corp has seen its $39.3-million Bitcoin purchase increase in value by more than 600%, reaching around $250 million. Back in June, the company also revealed plans to hold 5,000 BTC by 2022.
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