Tesla has sold $272 million worth of bitcoin, amounting to 10% of its previous $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase announced in February.

This leaves the car manufacturer with $1.331 billion worth of bitcoin on its balance sheet, according to the firm's Q1 shareholder update. The sale had a $101 million "positive impact" on Tesla's Q1 profitability.

The firm's purchase disclosure earlier this year caused widespread excitement among Bitcoin holders, and a subsequent price surge from $38,000 to over $46,000 has been widely attributed to Tesla's decision to put skin in the game.

Conversely, Tesla's latest sale announcement has had no noticeable effect on the Bitcoin price so far — it did, however cause some speculation among bitcoiners, not least Dave Portnoy, who only on Sunday announced that he now holds one bitcoin.

In a Monday Tweet, Portnoy commented on Tesla's disclosure, "So am I understanding this correctly? @elonmusk buys #bitcoin. Then he pumps it. It goes up.  Then he dumps it and make a fortune. Listen I own 1 #Bitcoin but #bitcoin is exactly who we thought it was."

Tesla chief Elon Musk took to Twitter for a personal response to Portnoy, stating that he had not sold any of his bitcoin. Rather, "Tesla sold 10% of its holdings essentially to prove liquidity of Bitcoin as an alternative to holding cash on balance sheet."

Details of Musk's personal bitcoin holdings are not publicly known.

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