Tesla Unexpectedly Transfers Over 11,500 Bitcoin

Elon Musk’s Tesla, one of the largest holders of bitcoin (BTC), has moved nearly all of its $760 million worth of the cryptocurrency to unknown wallets, raising suspicions that the automaker may be selling.

Wallets linked to the electric carmaker moved more than 11,500 bitcoins to wallets with unknown owners on Tuesday, according to cryptocurrency data firm Arkham Intelligence. Tesla’s wallets now hold just $6.65 worth of BTC — almost nothing.

Data from BitcoinTreasuries shows Tesla is the fourth-largest US company in terms of bitcoin holdings. Only software company MicroStrategy and bitcoin mining firms MARA Holdings and Riot Platforms have larger reserves.

Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in February 2021, and at one point, it held as much as $2.5 billion, according to Arkham data. However, Tesla sold 75% of its holdings at a loss in early 2022. When Arkham Intelligence added tracking of Tesla’s bitcoin wallet to its dashboard in March, the company held about 11,509 bitcoins, worth about $770 million.

Musk had previously said when Tesla first bought the bitcoin that the company would soon accept bitcoin as payment. However, that plan was quickly abandoned due to environmental concerns.

While several of Musk’s companies — including Tesla and SpaceX — include bitcoin in their financial statements, it’s unclear whether the X (formerly Twitter) boss is a true believer in the cryptocurrency. In a YouTube interview in July, Musk said that he thinks “bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies have some value,” but he has a particular fondness for dogecoin (DOGE).