Bitcoin

Arkham

Elon Musk

Electric car manufacturer Tesla probably still owns its entire Bitcoin stash worth $780 million despite transferring all the funds to unidentified wallets on Oct. 15, according to a blockchain analytics firm.&nbsp;
“We believe that the Tesla wallet movements that we reported last week were wallet rotations with the Bitcoin still owned by Tesla,” Arkham Intelligence <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1848824048765018487" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">said</a> in an Oct. 22 X post.
Tesla <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla-moves-all-765-million-bitcoin-unknown-wallets" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">split the 11,509 Bitcoin</a> (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) between seven wallets holding between 1,100 and 2,200 BTC on Oct. 15, Arkham noted. Wallet addresses “1Fnhp” and “1LERL” received the largest batches worth $142.2 million and $128.1 million, respectively.
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 Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1848824048765018487" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1848824048765018487">Arkham Intelligence</a>
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The massive transfers initially <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/ArkhamIntel/status/1846296741718405293/quotes" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">fueled</a> fears of a potential market dump — prompting anxiety on social media platforms like X.&nbsp;
Still, the wallets haven’t moved any Bitcoin funds since Oct. 15, Arkham’s <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/tesla" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://platform.arkhamintelligence.com/explorer/entity/tesla">data</a> shows.
It also hasn’t affected Bitcoin’s price, which increased 5% from the time of Tesla’s transfers to $69,220 on Oct. 21, CoinGecko <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/bitcoin" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">data</a> shows. Bitcoin has since pulled back 2.3% to $67,600.
While it isn’t clear why Tesla made the transfers, Arkham noted some observers speculate the funds may be moving to a custodian, potentially allowing billionaire Elon Musk’s firm to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-a-bitcoin-backed-loan-and-how-to-get-one" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">secure a loan</a> against the Bitcoin. 
Tesla currently uses Coinbase Prime Custody to store its Bitcoin.&nbsp;
Tesla executives may reveal their plans with the Bitcoin during its third-quarter earnings call scheduled after the bell on Oct. 23.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/michael-saylor-u-turn-self-custody-sparks-criticism" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoiners slam Saylor for throwing weight behind ‘too big to fail’ banks</a>
If Arkham’s analysis is correct, Musk’s firm remains the fourth-biggest corporate Bitcoin holder, trailing only <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-on-steroids-why-is-mstr-stock-trading-at-a-premium" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">business intelligence firm MicroStrategy</a> and Bitcoin miners<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-miner-monthly-revenue-11-month-low" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"> Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms,</a> according to BitcoinTreasuries<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://bitcointreasuries.net/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"> data</a>.
Musk’s spacecraft manufacturing business, SpaceX, still holds 8,285 Bitcoin worth $560 million, the seventh-largest Bitcoin holdings by a private firm.
<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/tesla-buying-bitcoin-btc-wallet-curiosity" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">Tesla first purchased Bitcoin</a> in February 2021, buying $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk briefly<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/elon-musk-says-tesla-now-accepts-bitcoin-from-us-customers" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null"> accepted Bitcoin as a payment</a> for the company’s vehicles in March 2021 but reversed the decision a few weeks later.
Magazine: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/10-crypto-theories-that-missed-as-badly-as-peter-todd-is-satoshi/" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="null">10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’</a>

Tesla likely still owns $780M in Bitcoin despite recent shuffle: Arkham

Cointelegraph

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