Elon Musk’s Tesla missed out on $3 billion by selling Bitcoin at $31k Insights BitcoinCrypto Equities
Elon Musk’s Tesla missed out on $3 billion by selling Bitcoin at $31k
Tesla's BTC sale at $31k versus today's $102k: A costly decision?
While Bitcoin surpassing $100,000 today, increased the value of Tesla’s remaining crypto holdings to over $1 billion, Tesla initially invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in early 2021 at an average price of $38,000 per coin. This purchase amounted to approximately 39,474 BTC.
In July 2022, Tesla sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings, reducing its total to about 9,868 BTC. With Bitcoin now at $102,000, Tesla’s remaining holdings are valued at approximately $1 billion. Had the company retained its entire initial investment, the value would have exceeded $4 billion.
Here’s an estimate of Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings from 2021:
| Year | Bitcoin Holdings (BTC) | Bitcoin Price ($) | Total value ($) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 (Initial Purchase) | 39,474 | 38,000 | 1,500,000,000 |
| 2024 (Current Holdings) | 9,868 | 102,000 | 1,006,536,000 |
| 2024 (If No Sale) | 39,474 | 102,000 | 4,026,348,000 |
Bitcoin’s bull run took a considerable hit when Elon Musk announced on May 12, 2021, that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment due to environmental concerns. The price then fell 17% in a single day from $56,000 to $49,400. Over the following weeks, it fell as low as $28,600 before making a new all-time high in November.
By July 2022, Bitcoin was priced at around $18,900, and the news Tesla sold was released, revealing it had only a quarter of its Bitcoin left. Tesla made $936 million from the sale, which indicates that it sold for less than its purchase price of $38,000. With around 29,605 BTC sold, that equates to a selling price of approximately $31,615.
If Tesla continued accepting Bitcoin and we assign an arbitrary 1% of its revenue as paid in Bitcoin, it could have acquired around 81,388 BTC, now worth around $8.3 billion. However, given the adoption rate over the past three years, it’s arguably unlikely that 1% would have been paid in Bitcoin.
However, Tesla’s antics greatly impacted the Bitcoin narrative at the time. Imagine a world where Elon Musk continued to embrace Bitcoin throughout 2021 – 2023 and even championed its use as a payment method. Tesla could have run advertising campaigns internationally with promotions focused on Bitcoin purchases. Is it as difficult to imagine 1% of revenue in that world? Perhaps…
| Year | Automotive Revenue ($B) | 1% Revenue ($M) | Bitcoin Purchase (BTC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 44.06 | 440.6 | 11,594.74 |
| 2022 | 71.46 | 714.6 | 28,584.00 |
| 2023 | 82.42 | 824.2 | 41,210.00 |
Analyst 
Liam 'Akiba' Wright
Also known as "Akiba," Liam Wright is a reporter, podcast producer, and Editor-in-Chief at CryptoSlate. He believes that decentralized technology has the potential to make widespread positive change.
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Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
South African-born Elon Musk has founded several companies, including X.com (which later became PayPal), SpaceX and Tesla Motors.
Tesla
Tesla is a manufacturer of electric vehicles and a clean energy company led by billionaire Elon Musk.