Chinese institutions were questioning Tesla about some quality issues found in the vehicles. Then the announcement on Bitcoin

Tesla's $ 1,5 billion bitcoin investment couldn't have come at a better time for the electric car maker.

Perfect timing

On February 8 at 20:00 China Standard Time (12:00 UTC), a few minutes before the revelation on Tesla's stake in Bitcoin, in fact, the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation issued a statement in which they cited the Tesla factories in Beijing and Shanghai urging them to "strictly comply with Chinese laws and regulations, strengthen internal management, implement the primary responsibility of corporate quality and safety, effectively maintain public social security and effectively protect the legal rights and interests of consumers ”in response to some anomalies reported by consumers regarding erratic acceleration, battery fires and over-the-air (OTA) updates to the company's vehicles. Tesla's timing may have been a matter of luck. However, some saw a connection between the company's announcement and that of the Chinese government.

Chronology of events

Perhaps the seed that blossomed in Tesla's bitcoin purchase was planted weeks in advance. Here's what we know so far:

• December 20, 2020 (08:21 UTC): Tesla's Elon Musk begins a series of tweets about bitcoin, which he described "almost a BS [bull-shit] like fiat money". One of the responses, written by MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, suggested that Musk convert Tesla's balance sheet from US dollars to bitcoin. "Are such large transactions even possible?" Musk asked in response to Saylor's tweet.
• January 29, 2021 (08:22 UTC): Tesla's Elon Musk tweeted that "in retrospect, it was inevitable," after adding "#Bitcoin" to his Twitter bio, which led to a double-digit price increase. of the largest cryptocurrency.
• February 8, 2021 (12:00 UTC): China's State Market Regulatory Administration announced in an official statement that Tesla officials had been summoned by several Chinese regulators "in the past few days," citing consumer complaints on Tesla's quality problems.
• February 8, 2021 (12:27 UTC): Tesla's annual report filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been released. The document included news that the company has put a total of $ 1,5 billion in bitcoin under a new investment policy and that the company may "acquire and hold digital assets from time to time or in the long term."

Tesla continues its bull run

Despite what could have been negative news from China, Tesla's (Tesla shares - ticker TSLA) shot up after the US market opened on Monday.

On some Chinese social media platforms, such as Weibo, a discussion has arisen as to whether Musk has previously been able to "manipulate" the price of bitcoin to make a profit. “If that were true, his behavior would have been rather 'low', a Weibo user wrote in a post. "Low" in Chinese meme parlance means "dishonorable".