Is Elon Musk Selling? Tesla Transfers Entire $765M of BTC to Unknown Wallets

Electric car manufacturer Tesla has transferred its entire Bitcoin (BTC) holdings to several unknown wallets over multiple transactions, raising concerns among market participants. This marks the first BTC transaction made by Tesla since June 2022.

According to on-chain data provided by Arkham Intelligence, the company moved 11,500 BTC worth approximately $765 million across 26 transactions to several unknown wallets on Tuesday.

The company’s bitcoin balance is now at a mere $8.05 at the time of writing.

Is Elon Musk Selling?

The latest transactions have sparked debate in the crypto community, with many speculating that they could be a possible sell-off by Elon Musk, Tesla’s co-founder. Some commented that if Musk is to dump, he should dump properly by selling through an over-the-counter (OTC) deal to limit the impact on the market. 

Large sales from whales usually have a negative impact on the short-term price of a digital asset and the broader market. Now that BTC has recently experienced a major rebound, another FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) has emerged.

Tesla Bitcoin Transactions

With $765 million worth of BTC, Tesla is the fourth public company with the most bitcoin holdings. According to data from Bitcoin Treasuries, the largest remains software company MicroStrategy, followed by Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Riot Platforms.

Tesla first disclosed its BTC purchase in February 2021. At the time, the company acquired $1.5 billion of the digital asset. After that, it sold  4,320 BTC and 29,160 BTC in 2022.

While market participants might have to wait for the company’s third quarterly financial report to know the real reason behind the latest movement, Elon Musk’s SpaceX still holds 8,285 BTC (worth approximately $553 million) on its balance sheet, making it the seventh-largest Bitcoin holder among private companies.

Bitcoin was trading at $67,137 at press time, representing a 3% surge over the past day.