Tesla Sold Some Bitcoin in Q1, Earns $272 Million in Proceeds

Tesla has disclosed on its balance sheet it sold some of its previous $1.5 billion investment in Bitcoin, and saw $272 million in proceeds from the sale, based on the “proceeds from sales of digital assets” on its cash flow from investing activities.

Tesla said in its Q1 slide deck, “quarter-end cash and cash equivalents decreased to $17.1B in Q1, driven mainly by a net cash outflow of $1.2B in cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) purchases, net debt and finance lease repayments of $1.2B, partially offset by free cash flow of $293M.”

Tesla still holds $1.331 billion in Bitcoin, while the profit from the sale was a $101 million “positive impact, net of related impairments, in ‘Restructuring & Other’ line”.

CEO Elon Musk has been bullish on the cryptocurrency, adding the “#bitcoin” hashtag to his Twitter bio at one point. Tesla also now accepts Bitcoin for payment when buying a vehicle. Musk also supports the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, subtlety tweeting about the latter going “to the moon”.

Tesla saw a record first quarter, in terms of net income and revenue, exceeding Wall Street expectations.