Tesla’s Musk Remains Open to Buying More Bitcoin After Selling in Q2 to Raise Cash

Electric vehicle maker Tesla (TSLA) sold the majority of its bitcoin holdings in the second quarter in order to boost its cash position given uncertainty around Covid lockdowns in China, CEO Elon Musk said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday.

But Musk said Tesla is open to increasing its bitcoin holdings again in the future, and noted that the second-quarter sale “should not be taken as some verdict on Bitcoin,” emphasizing that “we were concerned about overall liquidity for the company given Covid shutdowns in China.”

Tesla did not sell any of its Dogecoin (DOGE) holdings, Musk also said on the conference call.

Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin (BTC), or 75% of its holdings, in the quarter. It sold its bitcoin for an average price of around $29,000 per bitcoin, avoiding a substantial impairment charge by selling earlier in the quarter, since bitcoin ended the second quarter at a price of about $18,700.

The price of bitcoin initially fell about 1.7% to $23,300 following the release of Tesla’s second-quarter earnings report, which contained news of its sale. But it recovered those losses after Musk’s comments on the earnings call.