Tesla's Quarterly Report SEC filing Reveals Long-Term Potential of Digital Assets
Tesla's quarterly report SEC filing stated, "We believe in the long-term potential of digital assets both as an investment and as a liquid alternative to cash."
Tesla reported $1.26 billion in digital asset holdings in its first-quarter financial report last month, roughly the same as its holdings at the end of the fourth quarter in 2021, when it made it's first, and so far only, $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase. According to the report, the fair market value of its digital asset holdings as of March 31, 2022, is $1.96 billion.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has had a love-hate public relationship with cryptocurrencies for over a year.
Tesla's Bitcoin Purchase
Musk declared on Twitter in March 2021, a month after Tesla purchased bitcoin, that the firm would accept bitcoin as a form of payment. Musk reneged on his prior remark less than two months later, saying in a tweet that Tesla would not take bitcoin owing to the cryptocurrency's environmental impact.
Musk clarified in July 2021 that if bitcoin mining became more sustainable, he might examine incorporating it as a payment method. In an SEC filing in October, the corporation acknowledged that it was open to crypto payments.
Musk has long been interested in a rival cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, dubbed the "meme coin." Tesla now accepts Dogecoin purchases for a limited number of items on its online store, while no revenue from Dogecoin payments was reported in its quarterly report.
"We may increase or decrease our holdings of digital assets based on the needs of the business and our view of the market and environmental conditions," according to the quarterly filing. "As with any investment and consistent with how we manage fiat-based cash and cash-equivalent accounts, we may increase or decrease our holdings of digital assets based on the business's needs and our view of the market and environmental conditions."