In this together: Musk and Saylor down a combined $1.5B on Bitcoin buys

Tesla and Microstrategy have a combined impairment loss of almost $1.5 billion —will they HODL on?

As the bear market bites, holding crypto investments can be a tough pill to swallow. Consider two of the largest bag holders of publicly traded companies. They are down by almost $2 billion dollars on their Bitcoin buys. 

According to Bitcointreasuries.net, the 130,000 and 43,00 Bitcoin (BTC) held by Microstrategy and Tesla respectively are worth considerable sums less.

For Microstrategy, Michael Saylor splashed out almost $4 billion ($3,965,863,658) on 129,218 BTC, approximately 0.615% of the 21 million total supply. The Bitcoin price nosedive has ripped away earlier gains: the investment is worth $3.1 billion ($3,074,987,824), a loss of $900 million. Plus, in premarket trading on June 13, Microstrategy stock (MSTR) plunged to its lowest levels in months.

For Elon Musk, whose Tesla automotive company bought over 40,000 Bitcoin during the 2021 bull market, his $1 billion profit has gone south. The cost basis of $1.5 billion for 43,200 BTC, or 0.206% of the total Bitcoin supply, is now worth $1 billion ($1,017,789,280), down almost $500 million.

The total impairment loss (the loss in value) shared between the billionaire Bitcoin believers is roughly $1.4 billion. Given that both companies are publicly traded, the July quarterly results will dissect precisely how much each company is down on its Bitcoin assets.

At one point during November last year, Bitcoin surpassed Tesla’s market capitalization. Currently, Tesla’s market cap is roughly $721 billion while Bitcoin languishes at less than half a trillion dollars. Equally, the total market cap for crypto is plummeting, falling below one trillion dollars.

For Microstrategy, the situation is darker still. Saylor will have to top up a loan if and when the price of Bitcoin hits $21,000.

little reminder that Saylor needs to add collateral around $21k $BTC

snippet from Q1 earnings: pic.twitter.com/OM7haXSk6A

— yeezus 幸栄 (@yeezuscapital) June 13, 2022

Saylor had previously patched things up with investors, sharing that the $205,000,000 loan it had taken out requires $410,000,000 collateral. Nonetheless, moneybags Microstrategy has more than 115,000 BTC it could pledge if the price continues to flatline.

Related: Crypto winter survival guide: Community shares game plan for the bear market

Ultimately, if the fallout from Celsius’ reported ‘insolvency’ spreads, there could be more pain on the horizon. For some Bitcoin believers, such as Bitcoin’s first restaurant chain Tahini’s, “nothing has changed.” They will continue to accumulate, albeit at much lower prices.