London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Mar 09, 2026

0:00
0:00

Elon Musk swore in March not to sell any Bitcoin, but Tesla cashed out 75% of its Bitcoin holdings amid the crypto winter just months later

Tesla converted most of its Bitcoin holdings into fiat last quarter, netting $963 million, an implied loss of just around $160 million from its initial investment. Musk said before the quarter began that he’d never sell Bitcoin.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla sold $936 million worth of Bitcoin, 75% of its holdings, in the second quarter, according to a shareholder deck released in anticipation of its earnings call on Wednesday.

The company, led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, had just $218 million in Bitcoin remaining on its balance sheet, compared to $1.26 billion in the first quarter.

Tesla’s first investment in Bitcoin was in the amount of $1.5 billion last February, and the current disclosure represents its largest Bitcoin sale.

With the cryptocurrency trading down nearly 66% from its highs of about $69,000 per token last November, many investors have been feeling the pain. Musk seems to have timed the market well, as a rough calculation implies Tesla lost only around $162 million from its initial Bitcoin investment, based on the difference between its $936 million conversion of Bitcoin into fiat and 75% of its initial $1.5 billion outlay, which comes to $1.125 billion.

Yet the sale is still a departure from the bullishness Tesla has shown for the crypto in the past. In its first-quarter earnings Tesla reiterated its commitment to the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.

“We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets both as an investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash,” the company wrote in its first quarter earnings.

On March 14, Musk tweeted he would hold onto the cryptocurrencies he owned.

“I still own & won’t sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Doge fwiw,” he tweeted at the time.


In late June, presumably with most of Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings sold by that point, Musk changed his tune. In an interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said, “I have never said that people should invest in crypto.” He added that he still supported Dogecoin because “people who are not that wealthy” had asked him to.

Absent from that talk was any plug for Bitcoin.

Although Musk mentioned at the time that Tesla and SpaceX had bought Bitcoin, he said “It’s a small percentage of our total cash and cash assets.”

The price of Bitcoin dropped about 2% on the news of Tesla’s fire sale. Bitcoin prices are still up about 18% over the past seven days as the cryptocurrency jumped out of the $20,000 range it had been trading at since mid-June.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Declines UK Offer to Deploy Aircraft Carriers to Middle East Amid Iran Conflict
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to Return to Australia After Seven Years for Philanthropic and Business Engagements
UK Government Signals Independence From Washington as Cooper Says Britain Does Not Agree With Trump on Every Issue
UK Experts Warn AI Chatbots Are Fueling Surge in Claims of Organised ‘Satanic’ Ritual Abuse
UK Political Parties Divided Over Strategy as Iran Conflict Reshapes Foreign Policy Debate
Britain Discloses Secret Military Repair Hubs Operating Inside Ukraine
Trump Says US No Longer Needs UK Carrier Support After Delayed Offer Amid Iran Conflict
Why Britain Has Become Involved in the US-Israel Military Campaign Against Iran
UK Gas Storage Falls to Under Two Days as Iran Conflict Jolts Global Energy Markets
UK Warned to Brace for Economic Shock as Iran War Drives Global Energy Price Surge
Starmer and Trump Hold First Call After Public Dispute Over Iran Conflict
UK Dentists Returned £1.3 Billion to Government as Shift Toward Private Care Accelerates
Expert Warns UK Must Build Emergency Food Stockpiles to Prepare for Climate Shocks or War
UK Plans Charter Flight to Evacuate British Nationals from Gulf as Regional Conflict Disrupts Air Travel
Families of Zimbabwe’s Liberation Fighters Call on Britain to Help Locate Skulls Taken During Colonial War
Iran’s Ambassador Warns Britain to ‘Be Very Careful’ Over Deeper Role in Expanding Middle East War
UK Military Leadership Defends Britain’s Defensive Role in Expanding Middle East Conflict
Four U.S. Strategic Bombers Arrive in Britain as Iran War Intensifies
Soham Murderer Ian Huntley Dies After Violent Attack in High-Security Prison
UK Lawmakers and Experts Condemn Scale of Overseas Human Remains Held in British Museums
Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales Placed on Standby for Potential Deployment
United Kingdom Confirms U.S. Military Using British Bases for Operations Targeting Iranian Missile Sites
Starmer Defends UK Role in Iran Conflict After Renewed Criticism from President Trump
Blue Owl Reveals £36 Million Exposure After Collapse of UK Lender Serving Wealthy Clients
UK Asylum Reform Plan Triggers Fierce Debate Over Border Control and Humanitarian Impact
US Stealth Bombers Head to UK Base as Trump Issues Stark Warning to Iran
UK Deputy Prime Minister Says Legal Case Could Exist for British Strikes on Iranian Missile Sites
Investigators Link Mysterious Parcel Fires Across Europe to Russian Intelligence Operation
Debate Intensifies Over Britain’s Legal Justification for US Military Operations Launched From UK Bases
Britain Faces Heightened Energy Price Risks as Iran-Linked Tensions Threaten Global Oil and Gas Supplies
British Counter-Terror Police Arrest Four Suspected of Spying on Jewish Community for Iran
Axel Springer Agrees $770 Million Deal to Acquire Britain’s Daily Telegraph
Iceland Supermarket Drops Trademark Challenge Against Icelandic Government in Long-Running Naming Dispute
UK Defence Secretary Visits Cyprus Following Scrutiny of Britain’s Response to Drone Attacks
Questions Grow Over Britain’s Military Readiness as Response to Iran Conflict Draws Scrutiny
UK Offers Failed Asylum Seeker Families Up to Forty Thousand Pounds to Leave Voluntarily
Saharan Dust Could Bring ‘Blood Rain’ to Parts of the UK as Weather Systems Shift
UK Deploys Additional Typhoon Fighter Jets to Qatar and Helicopters to Cyprus Amid Rising Middle East Tensions
Experts Urge Britain to Accelerate Renewable Energy Push as Global Conflicts Drive Up Costs
British Public Shows Strong Reluctance to Join Wider War in Iran
First UK Evacuation Flight Departs Middle East After Lengthy Delay
United Kingdom Imposes New Visa Requirements on Travelers from St. Lucia and Nicaragua
Iran Conflict Strains U.S.–U.K. Alliance as Trump and Starmer Clash Over Military Strategy
UK Interest Rates Could Rise Above Four Percent Again if Energy Shock Continues, Think Tank Warns
Starmer Defends Britain’s Iran Strategy as Badenoch Urges Stronger Military Support
Labour MP Says She Saw No Sign Husband Broke Law After Arrest in China Espionage Investigation
UK Jobless Rate Overtakes Italy’s for First Time in Years as Labour Market Weakens
United Kingdom Suspends Student Visas for Four Countries in Unprecedented Immigration Move
Campaigners Warn UK Student Visa Ban Could Push Migrants Toward Dangerous Channel Crossings
First U.K. Charter Flight for Stranded Nationals Set to Depart Oman Amid Middle East Crisis
×