Musk’s Bitcoin Bet Is a Bean Counter’s Nightmare: Opinion

Elon Musk’s decision to invest $1.5 billion of Tesla Inc.’s cash in bitcoin is financial dynamite that unites two speculative bubbles. There’s plenty to suggest the move is inadvisable. Though small in the context of Tesla’s $830 billion market value, this is still a material portion of Tesla’s $19.4 billion cash reserves to park in such a volatile asset.

Tesla wouldn’t be the first car company to operate as a quasi hedge fund. For a time Porsche made tons of money trading derivatives, almost bankrupting itself in the process. Owning cryptocurrency sits badly with Musk’s green ethos: Some Bitcoins are ...