CoinMarketCap News, July 21: Will Tesla Ever Invest in Bitcoin Again?

Tesla has sold 75% of its Bitcoin investment. The electric vehicle giant says the drastic move was linked to ongoing uncertainty around COVID lockdowns in China — and concerns about liquidity. It received $936 million in cash, and this works out at an average price of $29,000 per Bitcoin. Musk says the sale shouldn't be regarded as a verdict on BTC — and revealed Tesla is open to increasing its crypto investments in future. Surprisingly, Bitcoin stayed above $23,000 despite the shock announcement — but dipped slightly below this level later on Thursday.

A former Celsius Network employee has described the company as hectic and disorganized. Timothy Cradle's also alleged that the embattled crypto lender "actively manipulated" the price of Celsius tokens. Speaking to CoinDesk, the former compliance and financial crimes director warned Celsius is now a "damaged brand" — and cast doubt over the firm's ambitions to bounce back. "I think someone would have to be frankly insane to trust Celsius with their assets at this point," he warned. Customers have been unable to withdraw crypto for over a month — and bankruptcy proceedings have now begun.

Musk isn't the only one offloading Bitcoin right now. Finland's confirmed that it has sold off 1,900 BTC seized through drug-related crimes for $47 million. Two crypto brokers offered their assistance with the transaction. The funds are now going to be donated to Ukraine. While this is the single biggest contribution that the country has received, the value of Finland's Bitcoin has fallen substantially since its plans were announced earlier this year. Had it been sold when BTC hit all-time highs of $68,700 last November, the crypto stash would have been worth over $130 million.

Coinbase has confirmed that it has no exposure to the likes of Celsius, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital. The exchange claimed the challenges facing these companies were entirely foreseeable — and their risk management practices had fallen by the wayside during a frenzied bull market. Coinbase executives also argue that the contagion we've seen across the industry is credit-related not crypto-related, with excessive leverage wiping businesses out in the blink of an eye. Of course, this company hasn't been immune from the effects of the crypto winter — and recently cut its workforce by 18% after growing too quickly.

NFTs are becoming a bigger part of the gaming world — but Minecraft has just announced that it wants no part of it. The company says these crypto collectibles "can create models of scarcity and exclusion that conflict the spirit of Minecraft." Aside from this, it's worried that the speculative nature of NFTs puts a focus on profiteering and detracts from the gaming experience. NFTs linked to the game's content have now been banned, with developers declaring that blockchain technology cannot be used on its platform. However, Minecraft says this may change if the industry becomes more secure, practical and inclusive.