Recent financial statements published by Tesla, the electric vehicle giant, indicate the company still has approximately $1.77 billion AUD on its portfolio. This shows that the countries Bitcoin position has essentially remained the same since its purchase of the cryptocurrency in the first quarter of 2021.
Since Tesla purchased Bitcoin in the first quarter of 2021, the company has had a big impact on the crypto sphere. One of the biggest impacts was the increase in transactions and investments in cryptos. When Tesla announced its large investment in Bitcoin, the price of Bitcoin increased by about $4000 AUD within minutes. Tesla then announced a month later that it would be accepting Bitcoin for the purchase of its cars. This resulted in an increase in crypto adoption and in digital currencies becoming more mainstream.
Tesla also played a big role in the rise of Dogecoin. The cryptocurrency which started out as a joke is now amongst the top ten cryptos in the market solely due to the influence of Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk. There was even a point when the cryptocurrency surpassed popular Bitcoin in interest globally. More Americans know about Dogecoin compared to those that know about Ethereum.
Still Holding On
Why all the interest in Tesla’s financial statements and more specifically, in the fact that the company’s portfolio still has a large Bitcoin presence? It is mainly because of the stand Tesla took against Bitcoin in 2021. The electric vehicle giant had stated that it would stop accepting Bitcoin for the purchase of its vehicles because of the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.
The company, which is a major proponent of environmentally conscious living, claimed that the process of mining the cryptocurrency has adverse impacts on the environment. The revelation by Tesla as well as its move to stop accepting Bitcoin resulted in a decline in investments in Bitcoin as environmentally conscious investors began to shy away from crypto.
Later in the year, Tesla was reported to have sold 10 percent of the Bitcoin it owned. This was reportedly a test of its liquidity. The company has also refrained from selling or buying Bitcoin. So the question many people are asking is why the company is still holding onto such a large stash of cryptocurrency?
Resumption of acceptance of bitcoin
Musk has stated that Tesla will soon resume accepting Bitcoin for the sale of its vehicles. However, he also stated that this will only happen after bitcoin miners show that they are using clean energy for their mining operations. However, the company is accepting Dogecoin for the sale of some merchandise. Musk, who is viewed in the crypto sphere as the father of Dogecoin, has also been reported to have tried to convince McDonald’s to start accepting Dogecoin.
Is Dogecoin set to take over as the most widely accepted cryptocurrency? Only the future will tell.