Highlights:
- Elon Musk’s Tesla moved all of its Bitcoins holdings, valued at approximately $765 million, to unidentified wallets.
- Despite these transactions, BTC prices are stable with no major fluctuations.
- The company has not connected funds to exchanges, suggesting no sales are occurring.
On October 15, the on-chain intelligence firm Arkham made a post on X that crypto wallets labeled as owned by electric vehicle maker Tesla transferred all of its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, worth about $765 million, to a series of unidentified wallets. The move has raised concerns about the motive behind these transactions, with a possible sale of the coins expected to have a significant impact on the market. However, it is possible that the company is moving these BTC for security reasons.
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TESLA MOVING BITCOIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2 YEARS pic.twitter.com/yN6QbBkUtm
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) October 15, 2024
Tesla Transfers 11,500 BTC from Wallet
According to Arkham Intelligence data, Elon Musk’s Tesla moved 11,500 Bitcoin across 26 transactions, including test transfers, to about seven new addresses. Despite the large transfers, the funds have not been connected to any exchanges. This suggests Tesla may not be selling its Bitcoin at this time. This is the first activity in Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet since June 2022. The wallet remained inactive before these transitions which ignited that speculation about the firm’s future plans.
Tesla entered the Bitcoin market in February 2021 with a $1.5 billion purchase. It later sold 4,320 BTC in early 2021 and another 29,160 BTC in 2022. In 2021, CEO Elon Musk started accepting Bitcoin as payment for Tesla vehicles. However, he quickly reversed the decision due to environmental concerns. He later announced on social media that Tesla would resume BTC payments once 55% of the network’s energy came from renewable sources.
Since the large BTC transactions, the company has not issued any public comments. Nonetheless, asset prices remain stable, with no significant fluctuations on the exchanges and no dumping by large holders.
Some of Musk’s companies, including Tesla and SpaceX, hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets. However, it remains unclear how much the owner of X personally believes in cryptocurrency. In a July YouTube interview, Musk said he sees “some merit in Bitcoin, and maybe some other crypto.” However, he expressed a particular affinity for Dogecoin (DOGE). SpaceX currently holds 8,285 Bitcoin, valued at over $553 million.
BTC Price Momentum
At the time of writing, BTC was trading at about $67,208, reflecting a modest price increase of over 2.65% in the past 24 hours. Its trading volume has risen by 16.28%, indicating heightened participation from investors and traders.
On-chain analytics firm Coinglass data shows weak market sentiment among traders over the past four hours. BTC’s long/short ratio currently stands at 0.98, indicating a bearish sentiment.
Adding to the suspicion, TSLA stock has decreased significantly over the past few days. Following Elon Musk’s presentation of the new “CyberCab,” the asset fell by 6% on the same day, suggesting a potential decline in investor confidence. Since then, TSLA has maintained its level and gained 0.5% over the past 24 hours, currently trading at $218. However, the week-long chart is less favorable, indicating that the asset has lost nearly 10% over the past seven days.
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