Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings have once again sparked discussions in the cryptocurrency community. This comes after Arkham Intelligence, a cryptocurrency data analytics platform, introduced a feature to track Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet on its dashboard. As of now, Tesla’s wallet contains approximately 11,509 BTC, which is 1,789 BTC more than what was reported in its previous earnings report.
In February 2021, Tesla, led by Elon Musk, purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, during the peak of the last bull run. The company also announced its intention to accept Bitcoin payments for its cars. However, this adoption was short-lived, as Tesla sold around 10% of its holdings in March 2021. In the second quarter of 2022, the electric car maker further sold approximately 75% of its Bitcoin reserves.
Here is a timeline of Tesla’s Bitcoin holdings and sales:
– February 2021: Purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin
– March 2021: Sold 4,320 BTC
– 2022: Sold 29,160 BTC
– 2023: No change in the balance of 9,720 BTC
Elon Musk’s relationship with Bitcoin has been a mix of love and hate. Initially, he expressed optimism about BTC and even announced plans for Tesla to store its own Bitcoin using on-chain wallets. However, he quickly changed his stance, citing environmental concerns related to Bitcoin mining and decided not to accept BTC for Tesla cars.
Some users have raised questions about whether Tesla has started repurchasing Bitcoin or if the change in figures is due to an accounting error. One suggestion is that the company might have resumed buying BTC after the last earnings call and could report the newly purchased BTC in its next call. So far, Tesla and Musk have not commented on whether Tesla is currently buying BTC.
In addition to Tesla, Musk’s other company, SpaceX, also holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. This decision came after Michael Saylor, the co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, convinced Musk to add Bitcoin to his company’s balance sheet. MicroStrategy currently holds 193,000 BTC, making it the largest institutional holder of Bitcoin in the world.