NEW YORK -Bitcoin stumbled late on Wednesday after Tesla Inc said it converted about 75% of its purchases of the virtual token into fiat currency.

The world's largest cryptocurrency slid as much as 0.5% to $23,268.92 after the news. It later regained losses and was last up 0.21% at $23,301.87.

Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin in the second quarter, more than a year after it made a $1.5 billion investment during the peak of crypto currency's massive growth and popularity. The company's Chief Executive Elon Musk has been an outspoken supporter of cryptocurrency. His statements on the future of the crypto space or disclosures about his ownership of digital assets often boost the price of dogecoin and bitcoin.

Tesla accepted bitcoin as a form of payment for less than two months before stopping in May 2021. Musk has said the company could restart accepting bitcoin once it conducts due diligence on the amount of renewable energy to mine the currency.

Bitcoin has been in recovery mode so far this week in line with the stock market rally, as investors appear optimistic about the U.S. Federal Reserve's ability to rein in decades-high inflation.

  - Reuters