Tesla reported digital assets of $962 million at Sept. 30, up from $674 million at June 30, ending three straight quarterly declines. The value implies the company still holds about 11,509 bitcoin and sold none.
Tesla's third-quarter update answered a question crypto traders have asked every quarter: did it sell? It did not appear to.
The company's quarterly update shows digital assets of $962 million at Sept. 30, up from $674 million at June 30. That $288 million increase came after three consecutive quarterly declines: the line stood at $1.315 billion a year earlier, then $1.008 billion and $786 million before June.
Tesla does not report a coin count in its update. Trackers put the holding at 11,509 bitcoin. The arithmetic supports that figure. Dividing $962 million by 11,509 gives about $83,590 per coin, almost exactly bitcoin's Sept. 30 closing price of $83,556. Any sizable sale would have left the dollar value lower than that price implies.
In proportion
The bitcoin gain is a small number next to Tesla's results. Operating income fell 56% to $718 million in the quarter, a decline of about $906 million from a year earlier. The bitcoin gain, booked below the operating line, was less than a third of that. Tesla shares were indicated about 5.3% lower before dawn Thursday, a move driven by its results and the broader technology selloff, not by its crypto holdings.
At bitcoin's price of about $81,730 early Thursday, the same coins would be worth about $941 million, roughly $21 million less than at the end of September.
The SpaceX connection
The figure matters more because of the merger talk around Elon Musk's companies. SpaceX reported holding 18,712 bitcoin at June 30. Together with Tesla's 11,509, a combined company would hold about 30,221 bitcoin, worth about $2.47 billion at Thursday's early price.
Tesla said it would not take questions on a potential merger with SpaceX on its call, so there was no comment on what a combined company would do with either position. Neither company has announced plans to buy or sell bitcoin.
Three readings
One is conviction: Tesla held its coins through three quarters of falling value and did not sell into the recovery. Another is inertia: at under $1 billion, the position is too small to matter to a company of Tesla's size, so it has simply been left alone. The third is volatility: under fair-value accounting, bitcoin's price now moves Tesla's reported profit every quarter, in both directions.
What to watch
Tesla's quarterly report, due by Nov. 9, which should confirm the coin count; SpaceX's third-quarter filing for its own holding; and any disclosure from the special committees studying a SpaceX-Tesla combination.