Tesla sold $272 million of its billion-dollar bitcoin acquisition

Its financial statements report for the first quarter of 2021 shows the amount as "profits from the sale of cryptocurrencies".

Tesla had bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February this year, according to a report sent to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Cryptocurrency broker Coinbase facilitated the acquisition.

The $272 million sale brings Tesla's bitcoin balance to $1.33 billion, at the February 8 transaction price.

At this time, that number could be higher due to market movements, but the reporting rules do not allow Tesla to adjust the number upwards.

In March, the company had also announced that it would accept payments in bitcoin. CEO Elon Musk said Tesla would withhold these payments in the form of the cryptocurrency and forgo converting to fiduciaries.

At the most recent financial results conference, Zach Kirkhorn, Tesla's chief financial officer, said, “Now Tesla is looking at how the market develops and is listening to what customers are saying. But with that in mind, from a corporate treasury perspective, we're excited about how much liquidity there is in the bitcoin market.”

Kirkhorn also added that Tesla "believes in the long term in the value of bitcoin, so it is our intention to store what we have for the long term and continue to accumulate bitcoin from our customers' transactions when they purchase vehicles."