The last bull and bear markets were both ushered in directly or indirectly by Tesla Inc.
On February 19 2021, bitcoin broke through the $1 trillion market cap for the first time, shortly after major institutional investors began to buy the cryptocurrency massively with their balance sheets.
These companies included Tesla, Square and MicroStrategy.
In early May of the same year, Bitcoin fell by more than 10% (along with Tesla stock) after the company announced that it was suspending Bitcoin acceptance due to climate change concerns.
After selling most of its initial $1.5 billion Bitcoin stash in Q2 of 2022 during the heat of the bear market, it turns out that the company has become diamond-handed, and has refused to sell most of its Bitcoin.
More details below.
According to its Q3 2023 report released on Oct. 18, Tesla had refused to sell its Bitcoin holdings in the third quarter of 2023.
These bags which remain stable at around $184 million have remained untouched for five quarters in a row, since Q2 of 2022.
Tesla, instead, has pumped in more money to its artificial intelligence, research and development fields.
According to this report, the company appears most bullish on Bitcoin, after the recent Tesla's Q3 2023 results show that the company is still bullish on Bitcoin, despite the recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
Aside from its unchanged Bitcoin holdings, Tesla's report also shows that it is investing heavily in artificial intelligence and research and development.
So far, Tesla has put more than twice its original computing power into its AI projects and is now using AI, instead of hard code to train its humanoid robot, Optimus.
Considering how AI and Blockchain are the most promising components in tech for 2024 and beyond, Tesla's heavy investment in AI shows its commitment to cutting-edge technology.
Tesla's third-quarter financial results weren't so clear, however.
According to the report, the company's revenue was about $23.35 billion for Q3. This figure is up by almost 9% from last year and misses analysts' expectations of $24.38 billion.
It also turns out that Tesla's earnings per share (EPS) of $0.66 also missed analysts' expectations of $0.72.
These reductions in profits likely stem from the anticipated pressure on margins, after a few cost-saving initiatives the company launched last year.
Despite these financial setbacks, Tesla has managed to maintain its target of producing 1.8 million vehicles as of 2023.
In summary, the company's third-quarter results were mixed, in that its revenue grew, but its profits were short of expectations.
Tesla's Bitcoin holdings have been the topic of several debates in the crypto community.
Recall that we mentioned that Tesla made the news for buying a whopping $1.5 billion worth of BTC in February 2021.
This BTC long trade was one of the largest and most significant BTC investments by a major public company.
Tesla's BTC holdings hit a high of around $1.99 billion by the end of 2021.
However, in July 2022, the worst happened.
Tesla sold off a massive 75% of its Bitcoin stash, to get an extra $936 million in its cash reserves.
And as of Q2 2022, the company owned around $200 million worth of BTC.
As of the time of writing, Tesla holds about 9,720 BTC, with a market value of translating to a market value of about $277 million, assuming a Bitcoin price of $28,500.
Tesla's report also shows that the company has halted crypto operations as well, in Q3 2023.
This marks the fifth straight quarter in a row, where the company is keeping away from buying or selling any BTC.
Tesla's choosing not to buy or sell Bitcoin comes at a time when its business strategies are shifting.
The report shows that the company's top priorities for Q3 of this year included cost reductions per vehicle, increasing delivery volumes, and investment in AI and growth projects.
Disclaimer: Voice of Crypto aims to deliver accurate and up-to-date information, but it will not be responsible for any missing facts or inaccurate information. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile financial assets, so research and make your own financial decisions.