KEY POINTS
- The wallet moved $760 million in $BTC across multiple transactions Tuesday
- The recipient wallets have yet to be associated to crypto exchanges
- The Tesla-labeled wallet HODLed its stash for more than two years before the transfers
A wallet linked to electric vehicle titan Tesla has moved some $760 million worth of Bitcoin to new digital wallets, leaving the main wallet with only $6.74, marking the first time since the said wallet transferred anything in more than two years.
Data from leading blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence revealed that on Tuesday, the wallet labeled Tesla moved all of its Bitcoin stash across more than a dozen transactions that first started with a test transfer of 0.001 BTC before millions in Bitcoins were moved to new wallets.
Tesla Wallet’s HODL History
Before Tuesday’s massive transfers, the last transaction on the wallet was fulfilled in June 2022. At the time, the wallet received over 846 BTC, worth some $17.4 million.
The said transaction means that Tesla “hodled” its Bitcoin stash for over two years, weathering many storms in the journey of the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value.
Among such headwinds were the great crypto winter triggered by FTX’s collapse in November 2022, multiple BTC price crashes due to economic crises and geopolitical risks, as well as the consecutive bloodbaths in August as affected by a global financial market downturn.
It is worth noting that the wallets that received the Tesla-labeled wallet’s BTC have yet to be associated with crypto exchanges, suggesting that Tesla may not be planning to sell the transferred assets.
Tesla did not immediately respond to International Business Times‘ request for comments.
Did Tesla Sell or Did it Move the $BTC to Cold Storage?
Given Tesla’s status as one of the biggest companies worldwide, as well as the standing of its CEO, Elon Musk, in the billionaires realm, it’s no surprise that crypto users immediately discussed why the EV behemoth decided to move its Bitcoin holdings.
“This is not selling,” one user said, explaining that Tesla may have opted for “direct custody” of its BTC holdings, “which would signal a reactivation of BTC payments.”
This is not selling, it is more likely taking direct custody of the coins, which would signal a reactivation of btc payments.
The tell is the legacy address format, which exchanges don’t use anymore for coins that are going to be tx’ed in the near term.
— Trygg.btc 🧙🏻♂️ (@TryggBTC) October 15, 2024
Several users suggested that Tesla may have moved the coins to cold storage, a storage option that’s often done through a physical device.
One user suggested that the company was moving the stash “to a hot wallet so they can buy ¾ of a billion worth of rare sats,” or satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. “Rare sats” are satoshis mined in the early days or months of the digital currency’s launch.
At least one user said the Bitcoins were sold over-the-counter, which is why BTC prices won’t be affected. “They are not stupid that they will sell on Binance,” the user said.
Bitcoin Unshaken by ‘Dump’
Indeed, BTC’s price didn’t seem affected by the supposed Tesla wallet “dump.” As of late Tuesday, Bitcoin is trading in the $67,000 lows after challenging $68,000 earlier in the day.
CoinGecko
The world’s first decentralized digital currency increased by over 2% in the last 24 hours amid a week-long spike of more than 7%.
Elon Musk’s companies whose digital wallets have been identified by Arkham are known to hold assets long-term, including SpaceX, whose BTC holdings have been unmoved for over two years.
