Disappearing Act
In case you’ve forgotten, Elon Musk’s Tesla is among the largest bitcoin whales in the world.
So when all of a sudden its over $760 million worth of the cryptocurrency seemingly vanished from its digital vault earlier this week, it stoked a bit of a panic.
The automaker’s hoard of bitcoin hasn’t been touched in two years. But now, every single one of the digital tokens has been moved to unknown wallets, Coindesk reports, raising fears in the crypto scene that Musk plans to sell off its decentralized assets.
Since Musk is himself an influential figure in the space, such a massive sell-off could spark a wave of others dumping their coins, too, potentially causing its price to crash. It’s unclear, however, what Tesla or Musk’s intentions are with the transfer.
Crypto Connoisseur
You may well be aware of Musk’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies — especially Dogecoin, a memecoin that he has consistently peddled online. Anything he says on the topic can carry enough weight to singlehandedly send prices soaring (or in some cases, plunging).
In 2021, under his stewardship, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. When the sale was revealed, it catalyzed another wave of hype for the digital assets.
Pretty much everything after that has been more tepid. Months after the huge buy-in, Musk announced that Tesla would no longer accept bitcoin for car payments, citing environmental concerns around crypto mining and transactions.
The biggest blow came the following summer, in 2022. Amid a downturn in bitcoin’s valuation, Tesla offloaded a whopping 75 percent of its bitcoin holdings — at a huge loss of some $200 million.
Perhaps prudently, the automaker hasn’t touched any of its precious coins since — until this week, that is — which are currently selling at historically high prices.
Mystery Moves
Nevertheless, what Musk and Tesla are preparing for by moving around its crypto stash is, at this point, merely speculation.
There are no clear signs that they intend to sell, such as a transfer to a crypto exchange platform like Coinbase, as Coindesk notes.
Still, for those with skin in the game, Musk’s silence on the money move must be disquieting.
More on crypto: Trump’s Dubious Crypto Scheme Falls Flat on Its Face Immediately After Going Live
