Bitcoin last rose 1.04% to $23,494.57, after falling a whopping 0.5% to $23,268.92.
New York:
Bitcoin recovered after a brief sell-off late Wednesday, sparked by news that electric car maker Tesla Inc had sold about 75% of its holdings of the virtual token.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk cited concerns about his company’s “general liquidity” as the reason for the sale.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 1.04% to $23,494.57, after dropping a whopping 0.5% to $23,268.92 on the news.
Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin in the second quarter, more than a year after the company bought $1.5 billion of the cryptocurrency at the peak of its boom and popularity.
Musk is an outspoken advocate of cryptocurrencies. His statements about the future of crypto and revelations about his ownership of digital assets often increase the price of dogecoin and bitcoin.
During Tesla’s earnings call, Musk said the main reason for the sale was uncertainty over China’s Covid-19 lockdowns, which have created manufacturing challenges for the company.
“It was important for us to maximize our cash position,” Musk said. “We are certainly open to increasing our bitcoin holdings in the future, so this should not be taken as a judgment on bitcoin. It’s just that we were concerned about the overall liquidity for the company.”
Musk added that Tesla has not sold any of its dogecoin, a meme-based cryptocurrency he has touted.
Tesla accepted bitcoin as payment for less than two months before shutting down in May 2021. Musk has said the company could resume accepting bitcoin once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy needed to mine the currency. .
Bitcoin has been in recovery mode so far this week, in line with the stock market, as investors seem more optimistic about the US Federal Reserve’s ability to contain decades-long high inflation.
