Data from Arkham Intelligence shows that Tesla transferred its entire Bitcoin holdings to new wallets on October 15, sparking concerns over a potential sell-off. However, Arkham confirmed that this was merely a “wallet reshuffling,” with the Bitcoin still under Tesla’s ownership.
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗟𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗢𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗦
We believe that the Tesla wallet movements that we reported on last week were wallet rotations with the Bitcoin still owned by Tesla.
Tesla moved their entire balance of 11,509 BTC ($776.9M) to new wallets. pic.twitter.com/aWeHrwjo22
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) October 22, 2024
According to Arkham, Tesla split its 11,509 Bitcoins across seven different wallets. The two largest wallets, “1Fnhp” and “1LERL,” received Bitcoins valued at $142.2 million and $128.1 million, respectively. This marked Tesla’s first interaction with its Bitcoin holdings since mid-2022 when the company sold 75% of its assets due to the crypto market downturn.
Although the large transfers initially raised concerns about Tesla potentially offloading Bitcoin, data shows that no further transactions have occurred from these wallets since October 15. This has eased public fears, and Bitcoin’s price remained unaffected, even rising by 5% to $69,220 on October 21 before slightly declining to $67,243.
The reason for Tesla’s Bitcoin transfers remains unclear, but some analysts speculate that the assets may have been moved to a custodian, potentially allowing Tesla to use Bitcoin as collateral for loans. Tesla currently utilizes Coinbase Prime Custody for its Bitcoin storage. Further details may be revealed in Tesla’s Q3 2024 financial report, expected after the market closes on October 23.
If Arkham’s analysis is correct, Tesla will maintain its position as the fourth-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, following MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms. Additionally, SpaceX—another company owned by Elon Musk—holds 8,285 Bitcoins, valued at approximately $560 million, placing it seventh among private companies with significant Bitcoin holdings.
Tesla first purchased Bitcoin in February 2021, with a total value of $1.5 billion. Elon Musk later announced that Bitcoin would be accepted as a payment method for Tesla vehicles in March 2021, but the decision was quickly reversed after a few weeks due to environmental concerns related to Bitcoin mining.
Despite the volatile cryptocurrency market, Tesla appears to maintain a significant presence in the sector. The company’s substantial Bitcoin holdings, combined with its recent transaction activities, indicate that Tesla continues to monitor and engage with the crypto market, which remains both promising and risky.
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