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Tesla, one of the largest corporate holders of Bitcoin, appears to have retained its $772.5 million in Bitcoin (BTC), according to data from Arkham, a crypto deanonymizing platform. Last week, Arkham flagged unusual on-chain transactions involving Tesla’s 11,509 BTC, marking the first movement of these assets in two years.
Despite the activity, the analysis suggests that Tesla transferred the BTC into newly created wallets rather than selling them off. “The Bitcoin has been split between 7 wallets holding 1100 and 2200 BTC,” Arkham reports. These wallets underwent test transactions, and all but one hold round numbers of BTC.
Tesla’s Bitcoin is now distributed across several wallets, according to Arkham’s data:
Some in the crypto community speculate that Tesla may have transferred these holdings to a custodian, potentially to secure a loan against the BTC. However, no official statement from Tesla has been made regarding the reason for the move.
Tesla made headlines in January 2021 when it purchased $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Later that year, it sold off $272 million worth of BTC and then offloaded another $936 million in 2022. Even after these sales, Tesla remains the fourth-largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, as noted by BitcoinTreasuries.net.
In 2021, Tesla briefly allowed customers to pay for their purchases using Bitcoin. However, the company soon paused this option, citing concerns about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining. CEO Elon Musk stated that Tesla would consider resuming Bitcoin payments once the mining process became more environmentally sustainable.
Tesla’s continued interest in Bitcoin demonstrates its long-term belief in the asset, even as it navigates market changes and environmental considerations.