Tesla sold 10% of its bitcoin holdings to show that it provides liquidity, Elon Musk said on Twitter, adding that he kept his personal investments in the cryptocurrency.
Tesla’s financial results showed that the company – which had bought bitcoin worth more than $1 billion earlier this year – had revenue of $101 million from the sale.
Musk wrote on Twitter that Tesla was essentially trying to “prove bitcoin liquidity as an alternative to holding cash on the balance sheet.”
The largest cryptocurrency rose 2.3% to $54.503. Its price plunged from a record high of $64.870 in mid-April, but has increased sevenfold in one year.
The electric car company has put bitcoin on the agenda of business financial services. Its chief financial officer, Zachary Kirkhorn, told a news conference about the results that the company believed in the long-term value of bitcoin.
In late March, Musk announced that Tesla would begin accepting bitcoin as a means of payment for Tesla cars.
