El Salvador is not the only one that has bet on bitcoin and is suffering the consequences of the crypto winter. Like Nayib Bukele, Elon Musk has shown his passion for the main cryptocurrency. So much so, that in early 2021 he announced that Tesla would carry out a $1.5 billion investment in bitcoin. A year and a half later, the cryptocurrency has closed its worst quarter in a decade and cannot get too far from around $20,000. For the electric car manufacturer, this collapse translates into losses amounting to billions of dollars.
When Tesla made this investment, the price of bitcoin rose to $45,000, a high that it later broke several times to reach $45,000. $69,000. However, market conditions have changed a lot since then. The crash of terra and token luna has dragged companies in the sector into a situation unthinkable two months ago: the investment fund Three Arrows Capital has declared bankruptcy; Crypto finance and lending firm Celsius Network has been forced to suspend cryptocurrency withdrawals, trades and transfers; Y the Coinbase exchange platform has cut its workforce by 18%, which represents around 1,100 layoffs.
In the case of Tesla, the crypto winter translates into considerable losses. Although throughout 2021 the electric car manufacturer sold some of its bitcoins, the value of its assets in this digital currency was around $2 billion by the end of that yearaccording to the statement sent by Tesla to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, for its acronym in English).
In one year, Tesla’s investment has been reduced from 1.5 billion to 1.26 billion, according to the company’s account books. as calculated elDiario.esif the electric car manufacturer decided to put its bitcoins up for sale, would lose 440 million dollars.
Another option would be to hold the investment while waiting for a comeback in the price of the cryptocurrency. However, Tesla may not be in a position to hold out, as evidenced by the fact that it will announce in June the firing 10% of his office staff for Musk’s “super bad feeling” about the future of the US economy. In addition, the carmaker is dealing with supply chain disruptions, which are causing losses of “billions of dollars” to its assembly plants in Texas and Berlin.
We will have to wait until July 20 to find out the impact that the crisis in which the cryptocurrency sector is immersed has had on Tesla’s investment. At the moment, it is known that the price of its shares has fallen almost 40% since the beginning of the year.
Apple, Amazon and Rivian sign workers laid off by Tesla
The layoffs announced by Tesla in June have been gradually becoming a reality. In the last 90 days, about 450 employees have stopped working for Tesla and have become part of the staff of Apple, Amazon and Rivianamong other companies, according to LinkedIn data collected by Punks & Pinstripes.
Of those 450 employees laid off, 90 have started working with their main rivals: Rivian and Lucid Motors. While 8 have chosen to switch to traditional cars, such as Ford and General Motors.
For its part, Apple and Amazon have hired more than 100 former Tesla workers. Like Zoox and the electric vehicle battery recycling company Redwood Materials, according to Business Insider.
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Elon Musk’s bet on bitcoin is expensive for Tesla: he loses hundreds of millions of dollars