Why did Elon Musk sell Tesla's Bitcoin at a loss?

in LeoFinance2 years ago

Why did Elon Musk sell Tesla's Bitcoin at a loss?

Direct from the desk of Dane Williams.




While Elon Musk says he sold Tesla’s Bitcoin at a loss due to having negatively impacted their year-on-year operating income, there are certainly other factors at play.

Elon Musk is the epitome of what we like to call smart money.

Every single word that comes out of his mouth in interviews or written on his own social media accounts are perfectly stage managed with an agenda in mind.

This is why when I read headlines like Elon Musk selling Tesla’s Bitcoin (BTC) at a loss, I can’t help but chuckle.

Logo of Tesla, who’s Bitcoin Elon Musk just sold at a loss.

So did Elon Musk really sell Tesla’s Bitcoin at a loss?

Short answer, yes.

After making sure we all knew that he was buying Tesla 1.5 billion USD worth of Bitcoin back in February 2021, Elon recently puked the lows.

BUT.

Remember the price rip after that initial purchase?

While we can debate the morality of Elon’s effect on the market, you will also remember that price ripped on the back of this news.

And at the top, Elon was more than happy to unload 10% of their holdings and consequently reported $272 million in profits from that trade in its April 2021 quarterly update.

So even after puking the lows here and speaking about “Bitcoin impairment” (lololol) in their latest quarterly update, they were also happy to report adding $936 million USD to the company’s books.

Funny that :)

When it comes to the balance sheets of publicly traded companies, you just get a little creative and the news you have to report is all rosy.

Elon selling the rest of Tesla’s Bitcoin at a loss here, is nothing more than a clever accounting trick.

Elon Musk is the epitome of smart money

Don’t for a second think that is the end of Elon Musk and Tesla’s involvement in Bitcoin.

While dumping his company’s holdings, due to the fact crypto is not yet contributing to an environmentally sustainable future, he wanted to make it clear that this move shouldn’t be viewed as his final verdict on Bitcoin.

Lol.

Yep, after Bitcoin being green enough for Elon just a few months ago, it turns out that it’s not anymore:

~~~ embed:1549884481221312514?s=20&t=lv0JAzuYVhs2iFaKkUFYMw twitter metadata:V2F0Y2hlckd1cnV8fGh0dHBzOi8vdHdpdHRlci5jb20vV2F0Y2hlckd1cnUvc3RhdHVzLzE1NDk4ODQ0ODEyMjEzMTI1MTR8 ~~~

Go figure.

While I laughed when I read this quote, I can’t help but respect the way he is able to use his position to manipulate the market for maximum profit.

For whatever reason, Elon has established himself as a godlike figure in crypto.

The Dogefather lives on!

Whatever Elon says or does in the market catches everyone’s attention.

So with that in mind, do you really think he’s going to talk up the technology after just puking the lows as an accounting trick?

Of course he’s not.

He’s going to pull out a tried and tested headline printer by saying Bitcoin is bad for the environment and let the market do its thing.

In today’s market, price will inevitably continue to grind lower until oh will you look at that…

Bitcoin contributes to record clean energy production just as Elon rebuys all of Tesla’s Bitcoin he sold at bargain basement prices miraculously before the flood of positive headlines that flip sentiment.

You know it’s going to play out this way.

Will you be ready to take advantage?

Best of probabilities to you.

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Thanks for this. All the times that Elon has stated something openly onto cryptocurrencies, it always had a second shot. Probably this is a way to create some kind of gain onto the Bitcoin position, accumulating more. And that is why I do not expect the price drop much further

I have learnt not to really care about Elon.

I just do my research and consistently invest.

There is nothing better than knowing why you are buying into something.

Understand the economics and invest consistently.

I totally agree with you. These are just moves to orient the market, when it's too late for retails to get benefits from the actual news

Yep, all fancy accounting for the company's balance sheet.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that this is the market bottom because there are so many other factors at play, but it's certainly an indication of where the smart money is at.

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I no longer listen to the guy to be honest.
I used to follow him avidly back in the day in 2012 but (as you suggest) I'm not sure if his actions/words are now orchestrated by someone else.

His days of being someone that the market looks to for guidance, are finished.

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I stopped paying attention to him since 2020.

I discovered it wasn't necessary as I was thinking of crypto for the longterm

Yep, after Bitcoin being green enough for Elon just a few months ago, it turns out that it’s not anymore:

To think the whole May 2021 crash was because he claimed Bitcoin wasn’t green. Marketmaneepulashonnnn

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Well, the crash was because the people who were in the system were not experienced hands.

They were in crypto for the short term and so any story would cut it.

So Elon says BTC is bad they run.

Elon says BTC is good, they come back.

The people who dumped crypo just wanted the short term profit

Marketmaneepulashonnnn

Haha, ohhhhnooooo!

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Tesla had 43,200 BTC in February 2022, according to Forbes news. %75 of it is 32,400 BTC. I tried to find the price they sold their BTC, but I couldn't manage to find it. My guess is around 30k.

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At what price did they get it for??

Without digging up a source, I'm pretty sure you're spot on with the 30K price.

Good trading wasn't it!

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I don't see any point with Elon having so much influence over the price but it's all a trick to manipulate the numbers on their quarterly report. I don't think it will have much effect at all on the price outside some short-term effects.

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There is something about authority and positioning.

He has the positioning and so people don't even know what they are holding and so just believe him without research

There's no point, but frustratingly enough he actually still does have influence over price based on what he says.

Crypto is such an immature market.

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Well, I do not like the effect of Elon on the crypto market.

Sad as it may sound, I catch myself looking at Elon's update as a signal.

Then I have to consciously stop myself, so I don't follow the bandwagon.

Well, there is no doubt that Elon is smart and I feel the only way to benefit as a wise investor is to avoid the opinions of people and just do your research.

Then consistently invest in what you believe in.

I think the fact that Elon's opinions do move price, shows how far the crypto markets have to mature.

So irrational.

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Its crazy

Probably better to keep your assets in USD than in crypto with the macro conditions we are seeing today. USD is going up only against all other currencies so maybe it is some sort of plan along those lines.

I also think when Tesla goes back into crypto BTC won't be their first pick. Elon is a bit too excited about Doge so it would come as no surprise if they add some Dogecoin to the balance sheet once the world settles down a bit.

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Haha, I've always said to do as Elon does, not what Elon says and buy Bitcoin over Dogecoin.

You can seriously see Elon actually putting DOGE on Tesla's balance sheet, can you?!

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At this point, it is bound to happen.

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Whether he buys more BTC in the future or not, he will stack DOGE. I expect BTC to come back into the picture later this year, when it's more convenient.

If he really wants to cause waves, He can buy Litecoin (LTC), and in quantities exceeding 21M LTC. Let's see how the markets react if that ever happens.

Could he buy HIVE? He could, but that's expecting too much.

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Could he buy HIVE? He could, but that's expecting too much.

If Elon truly wants to decentralise Twitter, then he should invest in and build on top of Hive.

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The reason Tesla sold part of its Bitcoins is simple.

The date is coming to present the report to shareholders and Tesla is not a company that generates profit on its own, so for them to be able to demonstrate results, they took the asset that has the most liquidity and sold it.

This is the real reason for Tesla selling Bitcoins.

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Spot on, my friend :)

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ELON is a great player at this game. He knows what he is doing for sure. Moreover, he has the influence to move the markets however he wants to.

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He knows how to manipulate markets within the law.

Dodgy... but legal!

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Just on the surface they treated BTC as a way to be part of the future of finance.
Like you mention this is a game cat and mouse where profit is the only standing champ.

!BEER

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It's working for Elon and Tesla.

Hopefully we stay on the right side of the game too! ;)

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Very interesting read. As I see it there could be one possible reason for selling at a loss. And that is if he wants to avoid paying tax on some other profitable venture. Then he is able to get rid of the Bitcoins at a loss and still do ok.

So many more facets to these things than what we normal mortals have to consider. =(

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Haha isn't that the truth.

Always remember that those of us on the retail side are most likely the slow, dumb money.

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Al I know is my money is not very smart, I have asked it to do even the simplest of tasks and it just sits there...

Funny thing is that while I didn't know the specifics, I always suspectedthat there is some fiscal manipulation going on in the background. Elon is way too smart to do something as dumb as just simply dump Bitcoin at this rate.

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As you spoke about in your article, we just have to remember that we're small fry dumb money that is essentially exit liquidity for big players.

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Elon knows the best way to book profit and whatever he did, must have some solid reason behind this., Hope we come to know about it soon

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Just a balance sheet play.

He will be back in the market soon enough.

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Smile

It is often said the Elon gets away with things in the cryptocurrency market that he couldn't get away with in the traditional stock market, as those would be considered stock price manipulation there. So if he is allowed to do it in crypto and make lots of money off it, I congratulat him for making the best use of the currently legal tools at his disposal.
:)

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That's all his Dogecoin crap was.

Just one big legal market manipulation.

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