Tesla, the electric vehicle company led by billionaire Elon Musk, has been making headlines in the cryptocurrency world once again. Despite transferring its entire Bitcoin stash, worth a whopping $780 million, to unidentified wallets on October 15, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence believes that Tesla is still holding onto the digital assets.
In a post on October 22, Arkham Intelligence explained that the recent movements of Tesla’s wallets appear to be “wallet rotations,” indicating that the company still owns the Bitcoin. This news comes after Tesla divided its 11,509 Bitcoin into seven wallets on October 15, with the number of BTC ranging from 1,100 to 2,200. Two of the largest wallets received 142.2 million BTC and 128.1 million BTC respectively.
Despite initial concerns that Tesla might be preparing to sell off its Bitcoin holdings, the wallets have not shifted any funds at all. In fact, Bitcoin’s price has actually increased by 5% since the transfers, trading at $69,220 on October 21 before dropping to $66,943 at the time of writing.
The reasons behind Tesla’s wallet movements remain unclear, but some speculate that the funds could be moved to a custodian to potentially secure a loan against the Bitcoin. Currently, Tesla stores its Bitcoin with Coinbase Prime Custody, and more information about the company’s strategies may be revealed during its Q3 earnings call on October 23.
If Arkham Intelligence’s analysis is correct, Tesla would still be the fourth largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, trailing behind MicroStrategy and two Bitcoin mining firms, Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms. This news comes after Tesla made waves earlier this year by investing $1.5 billion in Bitcoin back in February.
Overall, Tesla’s actions in the cryptocurrency space continue to attract attention and speculation from investors and analysts alike. As the company navigates its position in the volatile world of digital assets, all eyes will be on how Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings evolve in the coming months.