Elon Musk Confirms Tesla Sold 10 Percent Of Its Bitcoin For A Huge Profit

Elon Musk has confirmed that Tesla has sold around 10 percent of its Bitcoin in an attempt to test out the liquidity of the cryptocurrency.

The world's largest electric car company bought up a heap of Bitcoin recently, and obviously wanted to check how viable it all is by flogging off a significant amount of it.

The confirmation from Musk came after criticism from celebrity blogger Dave Portnoy, who took to Twitter to criticise what he called a 'pump and dump' strategy taken by Musk.

Portnoy wrote: "So, am I understanding this correctly?

"Elon Musk buys Bitcoin. Then he pumps it. It goes up. Then he dumps it and makes a fortune.

"Listen, I own 1 BTC but Bitcoin is exactly who we thought it was. Just don't be last 1 HOLDING the bag."

In answer to that question, Musk himself piped up to say: "No, you do not [understand correctly].

"I have not sold any of my Bitcoin.

"Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet."

Tesla's massive investment in Bitcoin was revealed in February, when the company announced it had pumped $1.5 billion into the world's most valuable cryptocurrency.

Then it started accepting payment in Bitcoin, furthering its commitment to the emerging currency.

That means that anyone wishing to buy a Tesla Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, or Cybertruck could pay for it in crypto.

According to the company's latest financial results, the company saw a great impact from sales of Bitcoin during the first quarter of 2021, generating net proceeds of $272 million just from the recent cryptocurrency sale.

Crypto researcher Wu Blockchain said on Twitter: "Tesla seems to be selling around $56,000, and buying $33,500, gaining 272 million and making 101 million profit.

"Musk said that the sale was to prove the value of Bitcoin's liquidity. BTC has not been affected by the news and is still rising moderately."

As it stands, Bitcoin is back up and above the $1 trillion market cap, and - in the last day alone - the overall digital currency market cap is up by more than $100 billion.

It certainly looks as if cryptocurrency is here to stay, which could prove a worry for the more traditional financial institutions of the world.

Either way, Musk will be watching on with interest. He just needs a massive rise in Dogecoin now, and he'll be quids in.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Bitcoin, tesla, elon musk, Money, Cryptocurrency, Cars

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim