Yes, Tesla sold approximately 75% of its Bitcoin holdings in Q2 2022 to maximize liquidity,, worth about $ 936 $ 9 3 6 million at the time, and later transferred nearly all remaining Bitcoin to unknown wallets in October 2024, raising questions about its current position. Despite this, Tesla still held about 11,509 BTC as of late 2025, reported by Yahoo Finance.
The move was described as part of a strategy to diversify its cash assets and maximise investment returns. At the time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk vocally supported cryptocurrencies, even adding the hashtag #bitcoin to his Twitter (now X) bio, which caused bitcoin's price to soar 20% in a single day.
SpaceX, the space exploration company led by Elon Musk, has reportedly transferred over $133 million in Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), causing a stir in the cryptocurrency market. The blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence disclosed that SpaceX moved a total of 1,215 Bitcoin to various addresses.
Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and early Bitcoin miner, famously traded 10,000 Bitcoin for two Papa John's pizzas on May 22, 2010, marking the first documented commercial transaction for physical goods with cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoins were worth only about $41, but the value of those coins would later grow to be worth hundreds of millions, even over a billion dollars, making it one of history's most expensive pizzas.
Musk has stated that he does not own any bitcoin, and Tesla stopped accepting it as payment in 2021. This discussion of bitcoin is interesting because it highlights prevailing concerns about energy consumption and a top electric vehicle maker's opinion on the matter.
Ricardo Benjamín Salinas Pliego, a billionaire from Mexico and one of the three richest people in the country, has put 70% of his wealth in bitcoin.
The Problem With Crypto
It's wasteful. He's criticized its massive energy consumption and how it facilitates anonymous transactions that can't be reversed. Unlike other digital payment systems, which he sees potential in, Bitcoin and similar assets don't align with his vision for practical financial innovation.
Tesla owns 11,509 bitcoins as of Feb. 12, 2025.
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao (commonly known as CZ) was the crypto billionaire who lost the most money following the crypto crisis of 2022, with a net worth drop amounting to 82 billion U.S. dollars.
Bitcoin has been a high-performing asset
This monster gain would've turned a $10,000 initial capital outlay in October 2020 to a whopping $115,700 on Oct. 6. The stock market's performance during the same time doesn't even come close to Bitcoin's impressive showing.
A programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz famously bought two pizzas with 10,000 Bitcoin on May 22, 2010, marking the first real-world commercial use of the cryptocurrency, a day now celebrated as "Bitcoin Pizza Day". At the time, the Bitcoin were worth around $41, but today that amount would be worth hundreds of millions, making it arguably the most expensive pizza purchase ever, though Hanyecz has stated he has no regrets, as it demonstrated Bitcoin's utility.
In July 2011, two years after it was created, one coin cost $13.91. Back then, $1,000 would have bought you 71.89 bitcoin, which would be worth $2,785,737.50 today. That figure represents growth of 278,476.56%.
Since many belong to custodians and institutions, the number of individuals who actually own 1 BTC is probably well under one million. Owning a single Bitcoin places you among the top 0.1% of all Bitcoin holders, as rare as owning a high-end property in the digital economy.
When the last Bitcoin is mined (around 2140), no new coins will be created, and miners will rely solely on transaction fees to validate transactions and secure the network, with scarcity potentially increasing demand, though some experts worry about the long-term viability if fees aren't high enough to cover costs and incentivize miners.
Key Takeaways. The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property, meaning that when you buy, sell or exchange it, this counts as a taxable event and typically results in either a capital gain or loss. When you earn income from cryptocurrency activities, this is taxed as ordinary income.
Bitcoin's price finally broke through the US$1 mark in 2011, and moved as high as US$29.60 that year. However, in 2012 Bitcoin pulled back and remained relatively muted. Bitcoin's price saw its first significant growth in earnest in 2013, the year it broke through both US$100 and US$1,000.
Investing $100 in Bitcoin about 10 years ago (around late 2015/early 2016) would have turned that initial amount into tens of thousands of dollars, potentially over $30,000, given Bitcoin's massive growth from roughly $300-$400 per coin to over $100,000 by late 2025/early 2026, though exact value depends on the specific purchase price and current market fluctuations, representing an astronomical return but also highlighting Bitcoin's extreme volatility.