Tesla clears out Bitcoin?
According to U.S. media reports, Musk's electric car company Tesla has transferred all of its Bitcoin reserves worth more than $765 million to several unknown wallets. It is not clear whether Tesla has sold all of its Bitcoin holdings. Relevant information may be disclosed when the company announces its third-quarter financial results after the close of trading on October 23.
The crypto wallet marked as Tesla made 26 transactions, transferring almost all of the company's 11,500 Bitcoins. Before this sudden transfer, Tesla's Bitcoin wallet had been idle since June 17, 2022. There is no indication that the Bitcoin has been sent to a cryptocurrency exchange, and Tesla has not publicly disclosed any plans to sell its cryptocurrency.
It is not clear whether Tesla still controls the 11,500 Bitcoins it holds, which makes it the fourth largest Bitcoin holder among listed companies, according to Bitcoin Treasury data, second only to leading business intelligence company MicroStrategy and Bitcoin miners MarathonDigital and RiotPlatforms.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the transfer.
Tesla first bought Bitcoin in February 2021, purchasing $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency. The following month, it sold 4,320 Bitcoins, followed by 29,160 in 2022.
Musk briefly accepted Bitcoin as a payment method for company cars in March 2021, but reversed that decision a few weeks later.
In addition to Tesla, another company under Musk, spacecraft manufacturing company SpaceX, still holds 8,285 Bitcoins, worth more than $553 million, making it the seventh largest private company holding Bitcoin.
