Earlier this year, Tesla acquired Bitcoin worth $1.5 billion and also began to sell her cars with cryptocurrency.
However, the Elon Musk-led company now is ready for cash in on some of its tokens, selling about 10% of its Bitcoin sales in Q1, which will increase by $101 million, the BBC reports.
“We aim at keeping our long-term business and keeping Bitcoin from transactions of our customers when buying vehicles,” said Zachary Kirkhorn, Tesla’s financial officer.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk verified in a Monday tweet that “Tesla sold 10% of its shares mostly to show that Bitcoin is liquid as an alternative to keeping cash in balance sheets.”
Musk also explained that he has not been selling any of Bitcoin’s personal stash.
Although Bitcoin’s valuation has so far recovered this month, currency last week went down considerably, for the first time in months, to below $50,000. By mid-April, it’s trading over 54,000 dollars again after it peaked nearly 64,870.
Musk seems to be sending a message to investors that Bitcoins are not only risky investments but can potentially be used in the same way as currency, according to Bloomberg.
It is a matter of guessing how the plan is going to work out long-term – but the enterprise is reasonably well-formed. The first quarter of Tesla was really healthy and the Bitcoin revenues were boosting solid sales.
Profits were also greatly affected by a $299 million payout to Musk as part of a healthy (or the least) incentive plan.
However, a global lack of microchips is more difficult days ahead and will greatly reduce demand.
According to M. Musk who spoke during this week’s quarterly income call, the scarcity led Tesla to have “insane difficulties.”
“We have faced some of the toughest supply chain problems in Tesla’s life,” he said during his call on Monday.
It seems to be interesting that Tesla’s Bitcoin Gambit has paid off and provides the car manufacturer in times of need with a much-needed cash.
But it is still someone’s guess that this is going to be the case later this year.