Elon Musk/ Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Tesla, which made waves last year when it revealed a major investment in Bitcoin, has now sold off most of its holdings of the cryptocurrency.

The electric car firm has offloaded 75% of its Bitcoin, which was worth about $2bn (£1.7bn) at the end of 2021.

It is backing away as the value of the cryptocurrency has plunged, falling by more than 50% this year.

Tesla said it bought traditional currency with the $936m (£782m) from its Bitcoin sales.

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Tesla boss Elon Musk has been among the most high profile champions of cryptocurrency, with his pronouncements on social media often driving significant trading activity.

Tesla’s $1.5bn investment in Bitcoin, revealed in February 2021, prompted a surge of demand in the currency. The price of the notoriously volatile cryptocurrency soared last year to almost $70,000 in November before crashing.

One Bitcoin now trades for less than $25,000.

Tesla last year stopped accepting Bitcoin as payment for its cars, citing concerns about the climate impact of energy-intensive Bitcoin mining.

At the time, Mr Musk said on social media that the company would not be selling the Bitcoin it owned.