The second quarter of 2022 was tough for the electric car producer Tesla, which reported a drop in profit after a previous shutdown of its Shanghai factory. Tesla reported that at the end of Q2, they converted about 75% of the Bitcoin purchases into fiat.
Related: Tesla's BTC reserves have not changed and are estimated at $1.26B
Reports show that Tesla's second-quarter profit dropped 32% from high levels in the first quarter. It was a $2.26 bln net profit.
According to the report, despite challenges in Q2 quarter-end cash, and cash equivalents, went up sequentially by $902 million to $18.9 billion, driven mainly by the free cash flow of $621 M. Through conversions, the firm added $936 M to its balance sheet.
In February 2021, Tesla revealed it had bought $1.5 bln worth of Bitcoin. Later in Q1, they reduced the position by 10%.
In March, the firm started accepting bitcoin as payment but later they canceled the decision given Bitcoin mining's impact on the environment.
Musk said at a call that Tesla isn't focused on crypto much. He added that crypto isn't something they think about much. Tesla's goal is to have renewable energy soon, and now they have concerns about the state of liquidity. The billionaire said the reason for selling bitcoins was the uncertain situation about when China’s lockdowns would ease. Musk added they are open to adding more BTCs in the future.