Tesla revealed it sold $272 million of bitcoin during the first quarter.

Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) first-quarter results, announced on Monday, showed the electric vehicle maker clocked a record quarterly net profit of $438 million on a GAAP basis.

Of particular interest to bitcoin aficionados, the company also made some more information, and commentary, available on its investment of $1.5 billion in bitcoin in the first quarter. (CNBC)

Bitcoin sales

Tesla’s quarterly shareholder update confirmed that the company made a gain of $ 101 million on its sales of bitcoin worth $ 272 million in the quarter.

The company described the gain as a “positive impact” on the company’s profitability in the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

The company adjusted this windfall against its operating expenses for the quarter.

Tesla: Bitcoin as a place to store the cash

The quarterly results also served as a platform for Tesla to send to the global business community a bullish view on bitcoin.

Tesla chief financial officer Zachary Kirkhorn said that he and Musk were looking for a place to park surplus cash with the objectives of earning some return on it as well as preserving liquidity.

“Being able to access our cash very quickly is super important to us right now,” he said. “And there aren’t many traditional opportunities to do this […] that we could get good feedback on, particularly with yields being so low and without taking on additional risk or sacrificing liquidity.”

Satisfactory liquidity

“From a corporate treasury perspective, we’ve been quite pleased with how much liquidity there is in the bitcoin market,” added Kirkhorn. “Our ability to build our first position happened very quickly. When we [made] the sale in March we also were able to execute on that very quickly.”

“As we think about global liquidity for the business and risk management, being able to get cash in and out of the markets is something that is exceptionally important for us.”

Bitcoin’s long-term value

“We do believe long term in the value of bitcoin,” Kirkhorn confirmed. “So it is our intent to hold what we have long term and continue to accumulate bitcoin from transactions from our customers as they purchase vehicles.”

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