Tesla has been moving around a lot of Bitcoin to a new wallet, a first for the carmaker that started sleeping in crypto a few years ago before it went cold.
What does this mean? Maybe not much.
Tesla is among several large public companies that have invested some of their money in cryptocurrency.
At the beginning of 2021, Tesla invested 1.5 billion in Bitcoin. Soon after, the automaker began accepting cryptocurrency as payment for new cars.
However, a few days later, Tesla took a step back on crypto by removing the Bitcoin payment option. The company noted concerns about the energy requirements of the Bitcoin network:
Tesla has stopped buying cars using Bitcoin. We are concerned about the rapid increase in the use of fossil fuels in Bitcoin mining and trading, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.
This is a concern that many members of the Tesla community shared when Tesla first announced the Bitcoin investment, and many are upset that the company didn't think about it in the first place.
At the time, Tesla noted that they were not selling their stake in Bitcoin and that they plan to continue taking Bitcoin payments if the network shows a high mix of renewable energy.
Last year, Tesla made some moves that hinted at starting to take Bitcoin payments again, but it hasn't happened yet.
A year after the initial investment, Tesla's Bitcoin holdings rose to $2 billion, but the cryptocurrency lost most of its value in 2022 and the automaker's position suffered – although the automaker also divested about 75% of its Bitcoin position at that time.
Tesla reported more than $1.2 billion in profit from selling Bitcoins, but the automaker is still sitting on a nice sum.
Bitcoin Treasuries reports that Tesla is the fourth largest Bitcoin holding company with 9,720 Bitcoins – even ahead of Coinbase.
Now, in the last few hours, Tesla has moved almost all of his bitcoins to new anonymous wallets.
The reason for the move is unclear.
Accounting and tax regulations regarding cryptocurrencies are constantly evolving so Tesla may be moving things along in preparation for that.
The crypto world is already buzzing about whether this means Tesla will sell its Bitcoin or buy more, but there is no clear evidence pointing either way so far.
Also, it is possible that Tesla is also planning to start accepting crypto payments for its cars, as evidenced in its software last year.
This story is still developing. Refresh for more details.
If you have an idea why Tesla is moving around with its bitcoins, let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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