Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Feb 10, 2026

0:00
0:00

Elon Musk swore in March not to sell any Bitcoin, but Tesla cashed out 75% of its Bitcoin holdings amid the crypto winter just months later

Tesla converted most of its Bitcoin holdings into fiat last quarter, netting $963 million, an implied loss of just around $160 million from its initial investment. Musk said before the quarter began that he’d never sell Bitcoin.

Electric vehicle maker Tesla sold $936 million worth of Bitcoin, 75% of its holdings, in the second quarter, according to a shareholder deck released in anticipation of its earnings call on Wednesday.

The company, led by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, had just $218 million in Bitcoin remaining on its balance sheet, compared to $1.26 billion in the first quarter.

Tesla’s first investment in Bitcoin was in the amount of $1.5 billion last February, and the current disclosure represents its largest Bitcoin sale.

With the cryptocurrency trading down nearly 66% from its highs of about $69,000 per token last November, many investors have been feeling the pain. Musk seems to have timed the market well, as a rough calculation implies Tesla lost only around $162 million from its initial Bitcoin investment, based on the difference between its $936 million conversion of Bitcoin into fiat and 75% of its initial $1.5 billion outlay, which comes to $1.125 billion.

Yet the sale is still a departure from the bullishness Tesla has shown for the crypto in the past. In its first-quarter earnings Tesla reiterated its commitment to the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.

“We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets both as an investment and also as a liquid alternative to cash,” the company wrote in its first quarter earnings.

On March 14, Musk tweeted he would hold onto the cryptocurrencies he owned.

“I still own & won’t sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Doge fwiw,” he tweeted at the time.


In late June, presumably with most of Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings sold by that point, Musk changed his tune. In an interview with Bloomberg at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said, “I have never said that people should invest in crypto.” He added that he still supported Dogecoin because “people who are not that wealthy” had asked him to.

Absent from that talk was any plug for Bitcoin.

Although Musk mentioned at the time that Tesla and SpaceX had bought Bitcoin, he said “It’s a small percentage of our total cash and cash assets.”

The price of Bitcoin dropped about 2% on the news of Tesla’s fire sale. Bitcoin prices are still up about 18% over the past seven days as the cryptocurrency jumped out of the $20,000 range it had been trading at since mid-June.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Prince William Begins High-Profile Diplomatic Mission to Saudi Arabia
Syria and Saudi Arabia Seal Multibillion-Dollar Investment Agreements to Drive Post-War Economic Reconstruction
Apple iPhone Lockdown Mode blocks FBI data access in journalist device seizure
Foreign Governments and Corporations Spend Millions with Trump-Linked Lobbying Firm in Washington
KPMG Urges Auditor to Relay AI Cost Savings
Saudi Arabia Quietly Allows Wealthy Foreign Residents to Buy Alcohol, Signalling Policy Shift
US and Iran to Begin Nuclear Talks in Oman
China unveils plans for a 'Death Star' capable of launching missile strikes from space
Investigation Launched at Winter Olympics Over Ski Jumpers Injecting Hyaluronic Acid
U.S. State Department Issues Urgent Travel Warning for Citizens to Leave Iran Immediately
Wall Street Erases All Gains of 2026; Bitcoin Plummets 14% to $63,000
Eighty-one-year-old man in the United States fatally shoots Uber driver after scam threat
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Begins Strategic Gulf Tour with Saudi Arabia Visit
Dubai Awards Tunnel Contract for Dubai Loop as Boring Company Plans Pilot Network
Five Key Takeaways From President Erdoğan’s Strategic Visit to Saudi Arabia
AI Invented “Hot Springs” — Tourists Arrived and Were Shocked
Erdoğan’s Saudi Arabia Visit Focuses on Trade, Investment and Strategic Cooperation
Germany and Saudi Arabia Move to Deepen Energy Cooperation Amid Global Transition
Saudi Aviation Records Historic Passenger Traffic in 2025 and Sets Sights on Further Growth in 2026
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Global Shifts in War, Trade, Energy and Security Mark Major International Developments
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Saudi Crown Prince Tells Iranian President: Kingdom Will Not Host Attacks Against Iran
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Trump Defends Saudi Crown Prince in Heated Exchange After Reporter Questions Khashoggi Murder and 9/11 Links
Saudi Stocks Rally as Kingdom Prepares to Fully Open Capital Market to Global Investors
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
Saudi Arabia scales back Neom as The Line is redesigned and Trojena downsized
Saudi Industrial Group Completes One Point Three Billion Dollar Acquisition of South Africa’s Barloworld
Saudi-Backed LIV Golf Confirms Return to Trump National Bedminster for 2026 Season
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
Saudi Arabia’s Careful Balancing Act in Relations with Israel Amid Regional and Domestic Pressures
Greenland, Gaza, and Global Leverage: Today’s 10 Power Stories Shaping Markets and Security
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Saudi Arabia Advances Ambitious Artificial River Mega-Project to Transform Water Security
Saudi Crown Prince and Syrian President Discuss Stabilisation, Reconstruction and Regional Ties in Riyadh Talks
Mohammed bin Salman Confronts the ‘Iranian Moment’ as Saudi Leadership Faces Regional Test
Cybercrime, Inc.: When Crime Becomes an Economy. How the World Accidentally Built a Twenty-Trillion-Dollar Criminal Economy
Strategic Restraint, Credible Force, and the Discipline of Power
Donald Trump Organization Unveils Championship Golf Course and Luxury Resort Project in Saudi Arabia
×