Tesla, which disclosed a significant investment in bitcoin last year, has now sold most of its cryptocurrency holdings.
The electric car maker said it had offloaded 75% of its bitcoin, worth about $2bn, at the end of 2021. It is backtracking as the value of the cryptocurrency has fallen by more than 50% this year.
Tesla said it bought the traditional currency with $936m (£782m) from its bitcoin sales. Tesla boss Elon Musk has been the most high-profile champion of cryptocurrency, with his announcements on social media often leading to significant trading activity.
Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin that surfaced in February 2021 prompted a surge in demand for the currency. The price of the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency surged to nearly $70,000 in November before crashing last year.
One bitcoin now trades for less than $25,000. Tesla last year stopped accepting bitcoin as payment for its cars, citing concerns about the climate impact of energy-intensive bitcoin mining.
At the time, Mr Musk said on social media that the company would not sell its bitcoin.
Tesla shared the sale of holdings as part of its regular quarterly update. It said that bitcoin was one of the factors that hurt its profitability.
However, the company reported higher-than-expected profits for the three months to the end of June as a rise in prices of its best-selling cars helped it overcome challenges, including the lockdown in China.
It also promised a “record-breaking second half” for the year.
Tesla said production at its factory in China increased monthly as COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. Mr Musk also said production has increased at the company’s new factories in Germany and the US.
Tesla shares have fallen by almost 40% this year.
