Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric car company, filed an annual report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) showing bitcoin holdings valued at almost $2 billion at the end of December. The company sees cryptocurrency as a liquid alternative to cash and an investment vehicle.
Tesla owns $2 million in Bitcoin
According to the Tesla annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Friday, the company continued to adapt its investment strategy to meet its liquidity and risk goals, such as investing in the US government and other marketable securities and financing products.
According to the company, the fair market value of our bitcoin holdings was $1.99 billion on December 31, 2021.
Tesla purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021 and accepted the cryptocurrency as payment for products in some regions. However, the electric car company stopped accepting BTC in May last year. The SEC was informed in October that Tesla might restart accepting cryptocurrencies.
Its latest financial statement shows a “carrying value” of $1.26 billion on its bitcoins, with a cumulative impairment loss of $101 million. Tesla also has $17.58 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of December 31.
The company noted, “Based on changes in the carrying value of our bitcoin, we experienced a $101 million impairment loss for the year ended December 31, 2021, and recognized gains of $128 million on certain bitcoin sales during the year”.
Additionally, the electric car company said to the SEC, “We may increase or decrease our holdings of digital assets at any time based on the needs of the business and market and environmental conditions.”
They added, “We believe digital assets have long-term potential, as investments as well as liquid alternatives to cash”.
Tesla did not include revenue from the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) in its 2021 annual report. The company began accepting DOGE for merchandise payment in January of this year. Elon Musk has stated that dogecoin is the best cryptocurrency for transactions, while bitcoin is a better choice for storing value.
