Tesla ditched bitcoin payments but it’s still the 2nd-biggest corporate holder. 6 experts break down why its holding poses major risks to investors.

Tesla ditched bitcoin payments but it’s still the 2nd-biggest corporate holder. 6 experts break down why its holding poses major risks to investors.

Tesla holds 43,200 bitcoins, currently worth about $1.52 billion, according to . This makes the electric vehicle maker the second-largest corporate bitcoin owner after technology firm MicroStrategy. The cryptocurrency market was spooked in recent weeks by a combination of Elon Musk , China banning financial institutions from maintaining crypto practices, and Japan's central bank governor warning about its volatility. Tesla's in February that it had poured $1.5 billion into the digital asset excited investors initially, but the recent volatility in bitcoin highlights risks to shareholders. Some question whether Tesla's purchase was a good use of corporate cash. "Companies that hold large amounts of their cash in bitcoin are breaching their fiduciary duties to shareholders, plain and simple. If an investor wants exposure to bitcoin, he or she should buy bitcoin. Corporate cash should be used for funding growth and/or returning capital to shareholders. How can you plan to fund those initiatives if your 'cash' (bitcoin holdings) is fluctuating as much as 10% in a day?" - "While some investment strategies recommend a small percentage (2%-5%) of the total portfolio for investment purposes, we are a long way from using cryptos for transaction purposes, and so is not a recommended Treasury