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- Tesla has moved nearly all of its Bitcoin holdings, valued at $765 million, to new unidentified wallets after two years of inactivity.
- Some believe the transactions could be linked to an OTC deal, but it’s not confirmed.
Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturer led by Elon Musk, has transferred all of its Bitcoin holdings, valued at over $765 million, to multiple unknown wallets. The transfer was made on October 15 and involved 11,500 Bitcoin across 26 transactions, as revealed by data from blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence.
TESLA MOVING BITCOIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2 YEARS pic.twitter.com/yN6QbBkUtm
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) October 15, 2024
Tesla’s Bitcoin account, which has not been active since June 2022, started moving on October 15 in the evening. The first transaction occurred at 8:41 pm UTC, with small test transfers leading up to the larger movements. By the end of the transactions, the company’s Bitcoin wallet, which was among the largest of publicly traded firms, had only $6.68 worth of cryptocurrency left.
Mystery Surrounds Destination of Tesla’s Bitcoin Funds
The fate of the 11,500 Bitcoin is still a mystery, there is no evidence that the funds were transferred to the cryptocurrency exchanges. This raises questions as to whether Tesla still has ownership of Bitcoin or whether it has sold it to another party.
Many experts believe that Tesla’s recent Bitcoin transfers might indicate preparation for an over-the-counter (OTC) deal, a transaction often used for large asset sales to minimize market impact. However, no definitive evidence has emerged to confirm this theory.
Tesla initially bought $1.5bn worth of Bitcoin in the crypto market during the first quarter of 2021. At the time, Bitcoin was trading at its near-historic levels and Tesla’s decision to invest in Bitcoin attracted a lot of attention with many people regarding it as the seal of approval from a major corporation.
However, shortly after, Tesla decided to sell about 10% of its Bitcoin holdings in the first quarter of 2021, which made some doubts about Tesla’s commitment to cryptocurrency. Then, in July 2022, the company disposed of about 75% of the remaining Bitcoin due to a decline in prices from their previous high in 2021. When Tesla sold in mid-2022, Bitcoin was trading at around $24,000 from the previous high of about $69,000.
However, Tesla still held a significant amount of Bitcoin, making it the fourth largest public company holder of Bitcoin behind MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms. Tesla’s decision to sell all its bitcoins is a major step for the company which had been considered one of the biggest institutional investors in bitcoin.
Tesla’s Mixed Relationship with Bitcoin
Tesla has not only engaged in buying and selling of Bitcoin, but also in other ways as well. In 2021, Tesla for a while allowed the use of Bitcoin in purchasing its electric vehicles. But it backtracked on this decision shortly, based on the environmental issues that surround the mining of Bitcoin which employs a lot of energy.
Elon Musk, an avid Dogecoin supporter, said Tesla would be open to accepting Bitcoin again if more than half of the Bitcoin mining is done using clean energy. At the moment, Tesla has not resumed the use of Bitcoin for payment, so it is unclear whether the company will continue using the cryptocurrency or not.
