Breaking News: Musk Might Still Hold 11,509 Bitcoins; His Discard of Them Meant to Get Collateral for Loans

The chain analyst Arkham Research pointed out that billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla transferred 11,509 bitcoin reserves last week. His wallet dumped all the positions in batches but the company may still hold them. The transfer was presumably to secure a loan.

 

 

 

Last week, Tesla transferred 11,507 Bitcoins remaining in its positions, which were worth nearly $770 million at the time, to seven unidentified wallets. It was the first time Tesla's positions had changed since its massive Bitcoin sell-off in 2022, which sparked panic in the market at one point.

 

But the market took a big turn when Arkham pointed out in a tweet on Wednesday that Musk-led Tesla could still own these bitcoins worth nearly $780 million. The platform's data shows that the addresses of seven wallets are still under Tesla's control and that the wallets have not transferred any bitcoins since October 16. "We believe that the Tesla's changes in wallets reported last week were wallet rotation and that these bitcoins are still held by Tesla,” the agency explained.

 

 

Since Tesla shifted its bitcoin positions on October 16, the bitcoin price has risen nearly 5.5 percent at the maximum, reaching a high point of $69,546 on October 21. But it turned back down afterward. During this period, the market did not behave as if Tesla sold stocks short leading to a market decline.

 

Arkham also mentioned that Tesla allocated all 11,509 bitcoins to seven new wallets which hold 1,100-2,200 bitcoins each. The two wallet addresses beginning with “1Fnhp” and “1LERL” received the largest amounts, holding $142.2 million and $128.1 million worth of bitcoin, respectively.

 

Arkham noted some observers have speculated that Tesla is moving its Bitcoin reserves into custodians with a possibility of using the Bitcoins as collateral for loans. Tesla reportedly currently uses Coinbase Prime Custody to store its bitcoins. “If what Arkham says is true, it could be the latter: Tesla may be lending out loans through the OTC service as collateral,” cryptocurrency media outlet BlockTempo quoted an expert as analyzing.

 

 

 

At press time, BTC traded at $67,083.