Tesla moves Bitcoin worth $770 million bitcoin to new addresses
TL:DR Breakdown
- Tesla Bitcoin worth around $770 million shuffled to new wallets.
- This has left the crypto community speculating whether the electric automotive company intends to sell its Bitcoin stockpile.
Elon Musk’s electric vehicle behemoth Tesla, just shuffled a cool 11,509 bitcoins—worth approximately $770 million—into new addresses, per on-chain insights from Arkham.
In a flurry of transactions over the past hour, Tesla, which famously dove headfirst into Bitcoin with a $1.5 billion investment in February 2021, moved around $770 million worth of BTC to seven fresh wallets.
But not before running six “test” transactions first, because even the pros gotta make sure they’re not hitting ‘send’ on the wrong crypto address.
This also marks the first time Tesla’s touched their Bitcoin wallets since their massive sell-off in 2022.
As of October 15, Tesla reportedly held 9,720 BTC (about $650 million) after cashing in most of their holdings which were initially 43,000. But Arkham suspects there’s actually 11,509 BTC stashed across 68 addresses—still around $770 million at today’s prices. Besides, Musk’s other baby, SpaceX, is rumored to be sitting on another 8,285 bitcoins.
Tesla is sitting pretty as the third-largest Bitcoin holder among publicly traded companies, right behind MicroStrategy and MARA (formerly Marathon Digital). The automaker will also accept your Bitcoin if you choose it as your option when paying for a brand new Tesla.
Why are they suddenly moving their stash after two years of doing nothing? No one’s really sure, but rumor has it they might be getting ready to unload more coins.
Back in Q1 2021, Musk decided to cash in on the Bitcoin hype, selling $272 million worth and walking away with a tidy $128 million profit when Bitcoin hit close to $62,000.
Fast forward to Q2 2022, Tesla offloaded another $936 million in Bitcoin, pocketing $64 million in gains, causing Bitcoin to dip about 1.7% in response. Meanwhile, Tesla’s total revenue that quarter surged 42% year-over-year, hitting $16.9 billion.
Now, all eyes are on Tesla’s third-quarter financial results, set to drop after the market closes on Oct. 23.
Get your popcorn ready!