We now know when Elon Musk got scared and sold Tesla’s bitcoin

Blockchain analytics company Arkham Intelligence claims to know the specific wallets holding Tesla’s and SpaceX’s bitcoin. Once thought to simply be held by a corporate custodian with impeccable privacy practices, analysts at Arkham claim that they have now uncovered Tesla’s 68 and SpaceX’s 28 bitcoin wallets.

According to its dashboard, Tesla currently owns 11,509 bitcoin worth $775 million at time of publication while SpaceX’s dashboard shows 8,285 bitcoin worth $558 million. Coinbase’s prime custody controls all of these wallets on behalf of Tesla and SpaceX.

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Here’s when Elon Musk got too scared to hodl Tesla’s bitcoin

If Arkham has correctly identified the Coinbase custodial wallets, it knows exactly when Musk authorized sales of Tesla’s bitcoin. (Tesla purchased precisely $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January 2021. Tesla also accepted bitcoin for vehicle purchases.)

First, on various dates during the first quarter of 2021, Tesla sold $272 million worth of bitcoin and realized a stunning $128 million in gains on those sales. (Bitcoin traded in a wide range during Q1 2021 from a low of $27,734 to a high of $61,782. The height of that range allowed Tesla to earn a 59% return within just a few weeks.)

Secondly, on various dates during the second quarter of 2022, Tesla sold $936 million worth of bitcoin and realized $64 million in gains on those sales.

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