Tesla moves 11,500 bitcoins to unknown wallets raising concerns over possible liquidation

The Tesla car manufacturing company has made headlines by transferring Bitcoin worth $765 million to unknown wallets. The company executed the transfer in over twenty transactions, including test transactions worth less than $10 in Bitcoin.

American multinational clean energy automotive company Tesla transferred 11,500 bitcoins worth $765 million to unknown wallets within an hour. The transactions have raised speculations over possible forthcoming liquidations by the company.

Tesla transfers 11,500 Bitcoin to unknown wallets

According to data from Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain explorer, the company executed the mega transfer in 26 transactions. The transfer initially started with a test transaction of $6.68 worth of Bitcoin on October 15th at 8:41 pm UTC time. The largest independent transfers involved Bitcoin worth $56 million, $73.16 million, $102 million, and $140 million.

TESLA MOVING BITCOIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2 YEARS pic.twitter.com/yN6QbBkUtm

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) October 15, 2024

The company’s Bitcoin wallet has been dormant since June 2022. Before Tesla executed the transactions, the wallet made Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings the fourth largest BTC holdings for a publicly traded company. According to data from Bitcoin Treasuries, automotive manufacturers only fell behind major industry players like Microstrategy and Bitcoin mining entities, such as Marathon Digital and Riot platforms.

It is not clear if Tesla still owns the assets, and the company has not officially acknowledged the transfer and the underlying reason why it was conducted. The recipient wallets appear unrelated to any known crypto exchanges, which could heighten speculations that the company intended to sell the digital assets. 

If the company intends to offload the assets, Bitcoin prices may face a looming decline despite inching closer to Bitcoin’s all-time high of $73k. The transfer has raised concerns among crypto fans on X. One particular user speculated a plot twist that Tesla’s addresses got drained. Another user speculated that Tesla was dumping the digital assets through over-the-counter (OTC) trades.

Tesla’s relationship with Bitcoin remains uncertain

Tesla’s stance on Bitcoin has been on and off and largely unpredictable. The company’s first interaction with Bitcoin involved a $1.5 billion BTC purchase that the company publicly acknowledged to have completed in early 2021. 

However, Tesla did not hold the assets for a long time and ended up cashing out 10% of the assets, or 4320 BTC, in the first quarter of 2021. The company later on sold 75%, or 29160 BTC, of the remaining assets in July 2022, leaving the wallet dormant until recently. 

In March 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced accepting Bitcoin as a mode of payment for Tesla buyers. However, two months later, Tesla cited concerns over Bitcoin mining’s harm to the environment and refrained from the decision. Elon Musk emphasized that the company may re-introduce the payment option when the majority of Bitcoin is mined using green energy.

Musk’s stance on cryptocurrencies is still uncertain. However, the tech founder has endorsed Dogecoin a number of times. While speaking in an interview in July, Elon Musk said Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies may have some merit but went on to say his soft spot was for Dogecoin.

Like EV maker, Musk’s SpaceX also holds Bitcoin in its books. According to Bitcoin Treasuries, SpaceX holds 8,285 bitcoins worth well over $560 million at Bitcoin’s current market rates. Bitcoin is currently trading at $67,658 and is up 9% in the last seven days.