Tesla Moves $770 Million in Bitcoin: What’s Going On?
Date: 2024-10-16 Author: Gabriel Deangelo Categories: BUSINESS
Elon Musk’s electric car maker Tesla has moved about 11,500 Bitcoins worth $770 million to new addresses. This is the first time in two years that the company has moved all of its Bitcoins from 68 previously known addresses to seven new ones, according to data from analytics firm Arkham Research. Tesla has not yet commented on the transactions.
According to Arkham, Tesla remains one of the largest Bitcoin holders among public companies, behind only MicroStrategy and major mining firms like Marathon Digital and Riot. The research group BitcoinTreasuries estimates Tesla has 9,720 bitcoins worth over $650 million, but Arkham says the company may have as many as 11,500 bitcoins in its accounts.
Tesla attracted attention from the crypto industry when it began accepting bitcoins as payment for its cars in 2021, although it later abandoned the idea. Tesla was also one of the first major corporations to invest in bitcoin, purchasing $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency in February 2021 and partially selling its holdings in April of that year, raking in $101 million. In 2022, the company reported that it had converted 75% of its bitcoins into cash.
While Tesla has significant bitcoin transactions, it does not disclose the exact details of its crypto assets. It is unknown how much bitcoin the company still holds and at what prices it bought them.
Arkham has not disclosed its methodology for identifying Tesla's bitcoin addresses, which raises questions about the reliability of its analysis. In addition, on-chain data only allows you to monitor transactions, but does not provide information about the company's goals and future plans.
Interestingly, Tesla's bitcoin movements occurred just a day after Arkham announced that they had identified the crypto addresses of another Elon Musk company, SpaceX, which holds more than 8.25 thousand bitcoins worth $555 million. SpaceX, being a private company, is not required to disclose its financial statements, but in 2021, Musk confirmed that the company owns bitcoin and Ethereum. In 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX sold $373 million worth of its Bitcoin.
Thus, despite Tesla's activity in the crypto industry, many questions remain regarding the volume and management of Bitcoin, both for the company itself and for other Elon Musk-related projects.
