Tesla dumped 75% of its bitcoin at one of the worst times, losing out on billions

Tesla said in the second quarter of that year that it sold three-quarters of its bitcoin holdings, adding cash to its balance sheet at a time when equity and crypto markets were simultaneously plunging. Tesla lost about two-thirds of its market cap in 2022, and bitcoin fell by 60%.

However, bitcoin has rebounded sharply since then, getting an added boost this year from the Trump administration's efforts to loosen regulations and its promise to create a strategic bitcoin reserve.

Bitcoin is currently trading at over $119,000, up about sixfold from the end of the second quarter of 2022, the period when Tesla made its big move out.

Had Tesla held on to all of its bitcoin, that stash would be worth roughly $5 billion, based on estimates of how much Tesla bought in 2021, instead of $1.24 billion. The $936 million worth of bitcoin the company converted to cash would currently be valued at over $3.5 billion.

Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment.

As for Musk, he's hardly said anything about bitcoin on his social network X in the past three years. In March 2022, shortly before Tesla began dumping bitcoin, he wrote regarding cryptocurrencies, "I still own & won't sell my Bitcoin, Ethereum or Doge fwiw."

— CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.