Bitcoin Is Suddenly Braced For A Huge Elon Musk And Tesla Earthquake Ahead Of Critical Price ‘Tipping Point
Now, as Elon Musk warns the U.S. is hurtling toward the brink of "bankruptcy," traders are braced for his electric car company Tesla to post its third quarter earnings, potentially revealing why it suddenly moved its near-£800 million worth of bitcoin last week.
We believe that the Tesla wallet movements that we reported on last week were wallet rotations with the bitcoin still owned by Tesla," blockchain sleuths with ArkhamArkham -0.6% Intelligence posted to X, adding: "Tesla moved their entire balance of 11,509 bitcoin (£776.9 million) to new wallets."
Tesla suddenly moving its bitcoin last week, the first time it's moved for around two years, sparked speculation that it was being moved for an over-the-counter sale.
In early 2022, Musk sold off the majority of the £1.5 billion worth of bitcoin he had added to Tesla's balance sheet a year earlier to secure a quarterly profit for the company.
Tesla will post its 2024 third-quarter results after the U.S. market closes on Wednesday, October 23, and may reveal why it moved its bitcoin.
Tesla is the fourth largest corporate holder of bitcoin after bitcoin mining companies Riot and Marathon and Michael Saylor's software company MicroStrategy—which holds £17 billion worth of bitcoin.
This week, Musk surprised the bitcoin and crypto market with an endorsement after recently directing his attention toward criticism of the U.S. spending, repeatedly warning the U.S. is hurtling toward the brink of "bankruptcy."
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"I think cryptocurrency is an interesting and probably valuable bulwark against centralized control," Musk said, speaking at a campaign rally for former U.S. president Donald Trump in Pittsburgh when asked by an attendee whether the cryptocurrency XRPXRP 0.0% could be incorporated into the financial system.
"Crypto by its very nature helps with individual freedom," Musk said, adding he wasn't endorsing XRP or any other specific cryptocurrency.
Musk later said he "wasn't actively involved in crypto," dodging a question about whether blockchains, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, could be used in future elections to reduce or eliminate voter fraud.
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Forbes
Michael Saylor Reveals Shock £100 Trillion MicroStrategy ‘Endgame’ As The Bitcoin Price Suddenly Soars
By Billy Bambrough
bitcoin, bitcoin price, crypto, Elon Musk, Tesla, chart
The bitcoin price has surged back toward its [+]
all-time highs this year, with Tesla and Elon Musk poised to trigger a major bitcoin price move.
Forbes Digital Assets
Meanwhile, bitcoin and crypto traders are closely watching the polls ahead of next month's U.S. presidential election, which could be a bitcoin price "tipping point."
"Take a bird’s eye view of bitcoin, and the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency has been stuck in a holding pattern since March. The question on everyone’s lips is, ‘what will it take to move it?'" Richard Ptardio, cryptocurrency and financial markets analyst, said in emailed comments.
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"Bitcoin bulls are looking at next month’s U.S. election as the tipping point. Should Donald Trump be returned to the White House, the promise of a low-regulation administration and the likely removal of Gary Gensler as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair could break the resistance required for new all-time highs," Ptardio said.
Trump has enthusiastically embraced bitcoin and crypto this year, backing his family's World Liberty Financial crypto project and selling four non-fungible token (NFTAPENFT -2.1%) collections.
Speaking earlier this year at a bitcoin conference, Trump promised to create a U.S. bitcoin strategic reserve if reelected and predicted the bitcoin price could eventually eclipse gold.
"However, even with Trump in office, bears may be right to sound a note of caution," Ptardio said. "There are signs that bitcoin is no longer the safe haven from the type of geo-political uncertainty that tends to follow him."
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Russia Launches BRICS Mining Infrastructure Project
Andrey Sergeenkov
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Andrey Sergeenkov is a freelance crypto journalist
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Oct 23, 2024, 05:02am BST
Updated Oct 23, 2024, 05:10am BST
The BRICS countries, an acronym of the five members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, recently expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates., recently expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
BRICS countries are set to expand their mining and [+]
AI computing capacity through BitRiver and Russian state fund partnership
AFP via Getty Images
Russia's largest data center operator BitRiver has partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund to build mining and AI computing facilities across BRICS nations. The companies announced their plans at the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow on October 18, 2024 according to an announcement on BitRiver website.
The partnership aims to expand Russia's share in the global computing market through construction of high-performance data centers equipped for cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence workloads.
BRICS is an economic alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, representing over 40% of the global population and a quarter of global GDP. In 2024, the bloc expanded to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
"We will focus on creating a mining-based infrastructure - building data centers and connecting them to necessary power sources to enable AI project deployment and development across the country," said BitRiver CEO Igor Runets according to the announcement.
BitRiver currently operates 21 data centers in Russia with 10 more under construction. The RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011, has invested over £2.2 trillion across more than 100 projects.
The companies cite a global shortage of energy-intensive data center capacity as a key driver for expansion. The initiative aligns with Russia's push to strengthen its position as the world's second-largest crypto mining market after the United States.
"Mining is not just a foundation for digital economy. As Russia catches up with the United States in mining, it means our country cannot be ignored," said Runets. "This brings economic growth, settlement liquidity with our partners and creates skilled jobs nationwide."
"Computing power development for AI implementation remains a priority for Russia and BRICS partners," said RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev according to the announcement. "Joint use of high-tech infrastructure will let members reduce costs, cut foreign technology dependence and control critical data."
Russian Mining Regulatory Environment
The expansion follows Russia's August 2024 mining regulation law, which established a legal framework for industrial mining operations. The law requires miners and data center operators to register in a government database, report operations and comply with regional energy consumption limits.
BitRiver's website details the mining laws that created two regulatory frameworks. The first governs experimental legal regimes for crypto companies in Russia. The second regulates mining and cryptocurrency operations nationwide. The Bank of Russia oversees these regimes in coordination with the Ministry of Finance, Federal Security Service and Financial Monitoring Service.
The law requires commercial miners and data center operators to register in a government database, report operations and comply with regional energy consumption limits. Individual miners can operate without registration if their energy consumption stays below government-set limits. The government can restrict mining in energy-deficient regions and adjust power supply conditions for previously connected mining operations.
The legislation also set guidelines for foreign partnerships and cross-border operations, allowing Russian-mined cryptocurrency for international settlements. The legislation prohibits mining companies from combining operations with power transmission, dispatch control or electricity generation businesses. Pool operators and data center providers must identify their clients and report suspicious transactions to authorities, with the Federal Tax Service, Financial Monitoring Service and Federal Security Service overseeing all operations.
Broader Implications
The data center expansion aligns with BRICS members' strategy to build sovereign technology infrastructure. BRICS countries are actively developing alternative systems to reduce reliance on Western providers while maintaining control over critical computing resources and data. According to an article by Nathan Lewis for Forbes, Russian banks have already started developing independent infrastructure, with Sberbank launching digital asset projects in late 2022.
"We believe that creating an independent BRICS payment system is an important goal for the future, which would be based on state-of-the-art tools such as digital technologies and blockchain," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russia's Tass news agency on March 5, 2024.
What It Means For Bitcoin
"To us, the expansion of crypto mining by these heavyweights signals bitcoin's ever-growing global adoption. This opens new opportunities for liquidity and financial inclusion in BRICS regions," Ryan Chow, CEO of Solv, said in an email statement.
According to blockchain.com data, Bitcoin network's total hash rate reached 723.63M TH/s in October 2024, up from 450M TH/s year-over-year, marking a 55% increase. Daily mining revenue stabilized at around £30.78B, while network difficulty hit 93.02T, rising from 62T last November, showing massive deployment of new-generation mining hardware from large-scale institutional entry and growing competition.
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The parallel growth in Bitcoin network power and difficulty, alongside stable mining revenue, signals major institutional expansion and increasing competition in mining.
The parallel growth in Bitcoin network power and [+]
difficulty, alongside stable mining revenue, signals major institutional expansion and increasing competition in mining.
Andrey Sergeenkov
"As more infrastructure is established, it has the potential to bring a wave of new participants into the Bitcoin ecosystem, potentially driving greater engagement with Bitcoin finance and the broader blockchain ecosystems," Chow concluded.
