Tesla is sitting on roughly $2.5 billion worth of bitcoin, according to a securities filing, giving the automaker a significant gain on paper just a few months after investing.
The automaker said its investment in the volatile cryptocurrency was worth $2.48 billion at the end of March. The company announced earlier this year that it had purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and planned to accept it as payment for vehicles.
Tesla said on Monday that it registered a net gain of $101 million from sales of bitcoin during the quarter, helping to boost its net profits to a record high in the first quarter. Tesla does not account for bitcoin as a mark-to-market asset, meaning it only recognizes an earnings benefit if it sells to lock in the gains.
Bitcoin was trading near $59,000 on the final day of March, slightly above where it was trading on Wednesday morning. The crypto asset has swung widely in the intervening weeks, trading well above $60,000 before falling sharply to below $50,000.
Shares of Tesla were down slightly in premarket trading on Wednesday. The stock, which has been one of the best performers in recent years, has dropped more than 15 percent over the past three months.