On October 16, American electric vehicle giant Tesla transferred its holdings of 11,509 bitcoins to approximately 7 new wallet addresses, sparking concerns within the community that Elon Musk was planning a large-scale sell-off. However, Arkham Research stated today that Tesla may still own these bitcoins, which are currently worth nearly $780 million.
Last week, blockchain analytics company Arkham Research revealed that Tesla’s wallet addresses had transferred all 11,509 bitcoins it held to 7 new wallet addresses of unknown identities, totaling nearly $770 million at the time. This was the first time there had been any movement in Tesla’s holdings since the company sold a large amount of bitcoins in 2022, leading to concerns about a potential major bitcoin sell-off in the market.
However, Arkham published an article on X platform today, stating that Tesla, under Musk’s control, may still possess these bitcoins, which are currently worth nearly $780 million. Data from the platform shows that these 7 wallet addresses are still under Tesla’s control, and there have been no bitcoin transfers from these wallets since October 16.
Since Tesla transferred its bitcoin holdings on the 16th, the price of BTC has risen by nearly 5.5%, reaching a high of $69,546 on October 21. As of the time of writing, it is temporarily reported at $67,128. The market performance during this period does not seem to indicate any significant sell-off operations by Tesla.
Tesla still holds $789 million worth of BTC. Arkham further pointed out that Tesla distributed all 11,509 BTC to 7 new wallet addresses, with each of these wallets holding between 1,100 and 2,200 bitcoins. The two wallet addresses starting with “1Fnhp” and “1LERL” received the largest amounts, holding bitcoins worth $142.2 million and $128.1 million, respectively.
1Fnhp – 2109.3 BTC ($142.2 million)
1LERL – 1900 BTC ($128.1 million)
1D6Vh – 1800 BTC ($121.3 million)
16QZn – 1700 BTC ($114.6 million)
1QC2z – 1600 BTC ($107.8 million)
1Phab – 1300 BTC ($87.6 million)
1MGM8 – 1100 BTC ($74.1 million)
The transfer of bitcoins by Tesla may be for “mortgage loans.” Arkham suggests that some observers speculate that Tesla is transferring its bitcoin reserves to custodial institutions, possibly as collateral for obtaining loans. It is understood that Tesla currently uses Coinbase Prime Custody to store its bitcoins.
Regarding this speculation, an anonymous expert told Dong Qu that the new wallet addresses transferred by Tesla are usually associated with exchanges or established OTC traders.
However, the purpose behind Tesla’s first transfer of its remaining bitcoin holdings in two years remains unknown. It is unclear whether they intend to sell the coins on exchanges or use them as collateral for loans. Arkham stated that Tesla’s senior executives may reveal their plans for bitcoin during the third-quarter earnings call scheduled after the US stock market closes on October 23 (early morning of October 24 in Taiwan).
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