Tesla split its 11,509 Bitcoin across seven new wallets.
Despite moving the $780 million Bitcoin investment to unidentified wallets earlier this month, the electric car giant Tesla is thought to still own the entire amount.
The movements are probably a result of regular wallet rotations rather than a sale or liquidation, according to blockchain analytics company Arkham Intelligence.
“We believe that the Tesla wallet movements that we reported on last week were wallet rotations with the Bitcoin still owned by Tesla,” Arkham Intelligence said in a recent post on X.
Tesla Split its Bitcoin Holdings Across Seven Wallets
On October 15, Tesla split its 11,509 Bitcoin across seven new wallets, each holding between 1,100 and 2,200 BTC, as observed by Arkham.
With respective values of $142.2 million and $128.1 million, the two biggest wallets, designated “1Fnhp” and “1LERL,” were given the largest shares.
At first, the widespread movement raised fears of a potential market dump, sparking conjecture on social media sites like X.
But according to Arkham’s data, since the transfers, no more Bitcoin transactions have come from these wallets, indicating that Tesla has not sold any of its holdings.
𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘: 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗟𝗔 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗖𝗢𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗧𝗦
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) October 22, 2024
We believe that the Tesla wallet movements that we reported on last week were wallet rotations with the Bitcoin still owned by Tesla.
Tesla moved their entire balance of 11,509 BTC ($776.9M) to new wallets. pic.twitter.com/aWeHrwjo22
Furthermore, the price of Bitcoin has not been adversely affected by the transfers.
According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin actually increased 5% to $69,220 by October 21 before declining marginally to $67,600.
Since Tesla currently uses Coinbase Prime Custody for storage, some people theorize that the money may have been transferred to a custodian for a possible loan, even though Tesla has not revealed the reason for these transfers.
On October 23, Tesla will hold its third-quarter earnings call, which could provide additional insight into the company’s goals.
Tesla is still among the biggest corporate Bitcoin holders, behind only Riot Platforms, Marathon Digital, and MicroStrategy, if Arkham’s analysis is correct.
Elon Musk’s other business, SpaceX, is currently in possession of 8,285 Bitcoin, which is worth $560 million.
In February 2021, Tesla paid $1.5 billion to acquire Bitcoin.
Elon Musk’s $1M Daily Prize for Voter Registration Raises Legal Questions
A $1 million daily prize has been announced by Elon Musk, the founder of America Pac, a Donald Trump-affiliated political action group, to promote voter registration in the run-up to the presidential election.
Speaking at a town hall event in Pennsylvania, Musk revealed that anyone who signs a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments would be entered into a daily draw for $1 million.
Signers must, however, be registered voters in crucial battleground states in order to be eligible.
Musk stressed that the goal of the prize is to increase public awareness of the petition, which he believes receives little coverage from mainstream media.
By providing a financial incentive to register to vote, the petition is perceived as a tactic to rally Trump supporters in crucial states.
At the event, Musk enthusiastically gave a lottery-style check to the first winner.
Furthermore, it is now mandatory to sign the petition in order to participate in Musk’s town hall meetings.
Potential voters might find the initiative appealing, but its legality is being questioned.
The prize draw may be in violation of federal election laws, which forbid paying individuals to register or cast a ballot, according to a number of legal experts.
Rick Hasen, a law professor at UCLA, noted that Musk’s initiative seems to be unlawful, though the U.S. Department of Justice has not yet commented on the matter.
Federal election laws distinguish between facilitating voting and providing incentives to vote, the latter of which is illegal.