Did Tesla Load Up on More Bitcoin?

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Tesla’s relationship with Bitcoin has been a rollercoaster ride, and recent developments have the crypto community buzzing again.

A Change in Tesla’s Bitcoin Holdings?

Cryptocurrency data platform Arkham Intelligence added Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet to its tracking dashboard, revealing a surprise. Tesla’s wallet currently holds roughly 11,509 BTC, a significant increase from the 9,720 BTC reported during their last earnings call. This has sparked speculation:

Repurchase or Error? Some users suspect Tesla might be buying Bitcoin again, with a potential announcement during their next earnings call. Others believe it could be a simple accounting error.

Tesla’s Bitcoin History: A Bull Run, a Chill Out, and a Sell-Off

Let’s rewind:

February 2021: Tesla, under Elon Musk’s leadership, purchased a whopping $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin near the peak of the previous bull run. They even announced accepting Bitcoin payments for Tesla vehicles.
March 2021 & Q2 2022: Tesla’s Bitcoin love affair cooled quickly. They sold roughly 10% of their holdings in March 2021, followed by a massive 75% sell-off in the second quarter of 2022.

Musk’s Bitcoin: Hot and Cold

Elon Musk’s stance on Bitcoin has been, well, volatile:

2021 – The Optimist: Musk initially expressed enthusiasm for Bitcoin, even planning for Tesla to hold Bitcoin in its own digital wallets.
Shifting Gears: Just weeks later, those plans for Bitcoin payments were scrapped due to alleged environmental concerns surrounding Bitcoin mining.

What Now?

The crypto community awaits clarification. Here are some possibilities:

New Purchases?: Did Tesla quietly start buying Bitcoin again after their last earnings call?
Accounting Hiccup?: Is the increase simply a bookkeeping error?

Tesla and Musk Remain Silent

So far, neither Tesla nor Elon Musk have commented on the potential Bitcoin repurchases.

SpaceX in the Bitcoin Mix

Interestingly, another Musk-owned company, SpaceX, also holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. This influence likely came from Michael Saylor, co-founder of MicroStrategy, who famously convinced Musk to add Bitcoin to SpaceX’s holdings. MicroStrategy, with its massive 193,000 BTC, is currently the world’s largest institutional holder of Bitcoin.

Saylor’s Bold Prediction

During a recent Bitcoin conference, Saylor made a bold prediction: a decade-long “gold rush” for Bitcoin fueled by Artificial Intelligence and exchange-traded funds.

Read more about that here: Bitcoin Entering a Decade-Long Gold Rush Fueled by AI and ETFs?

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