Tesla suffered a loss of $140 million in 2022 due to its investment in Bitcoin, as per company filings.
Despite losing $204 million in total on Bitcoin, Tesla was able to recover $64 million through trading. In early 2021, the electric carmaker invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and announced that it would accept the cryptocurrency as payment. However, the company soon changed its stance and sold the majority of its Bitcoin holdings, leaving it with only $184 million in the cryptocurrency.
CEO Elon Musk has been a prominent advocate for cryptocurrency, with his statements on social media having a significant impact on trading. Tesla’s initial purchase of Bitcoin in February 2021 led to a 25% increase in the cryptocurrency’s price to a record high of $48,000. The company’s announcement in March 2021 that it would allow customers to buy its cars using Bitcoin resulted in another price hike, but two months later, Tesla reversed this decision due to concerns about the cryptocurrency’s carbon footprint.
According to the UK Treasury, Bitcoin’s global energy consumption is estimated to be equal to 39% of the UK’s energy consumption, and some estimates place it even higher. In November 2022, Bitcoin’s price reached nearly $70,000 before plummeting by more than 50% following Tesla’s decision to sell most of its holdings.