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Despite the transfer of the BTC Tesla has not shared any plans to sell. Bitcoin is approaching key resistance levels close to $69,000, spurred by bullish market sentiment and strong ETF inflows. Analysts are still a bit cautious, and recently pointed out liquidity gaps and potential price rejections. Meanwhile, a British man is suing Newport Council to recover a hard drive that contains 8,000 lost Bitcoins, which is now worth more than $500 million. The legal battle is set for December.
Tesla Shifts Bitcoin Stash
Tesla has moved its entire Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, which is valued at over $765 million, into several unknown wallets. The transfers were made across 26 transactions, and took place on Oct. 15, according to Arkham Intelligence.
This activity was the first movement from Tesla’s Bitcoin wallet since June of 2022. It is estimated that the wallet now holds just $6.68 worth of Bitcoin. Despite the BTC movement, there's no evidence yet that the funds were sent to crypto exchanges, and Tesla has not announced any plans to sell its Bitcoin holdings.
Tesla’s current status as the fourth-largest Bitcoin holder among publicly traded companies is now uncertain. The company follows major Bitcoin holders like MicroStrategy, Marathon Digital, and Riot Platforms. Tesla first made headlines with its $1.5 billion Bitcoin purchase in February of 2021 but sold portions of its holdings in two later sales.
The transfers come ahead of Tesla’s Q3 financial results that are set to be released on Oct. 23, where more details about the Bitcoin stash could be revealed. Despite the mystery surrounding the transfers, the market has not responded to the news just yet. So far, Tesla has made any comments about the transactions.
British Man Sues Council Over Lost Bitcoin
It is not just Tesla that has moved around its Bitcoin before. A British man, James Howells, decided to file a legal claim against Newport Council in Wales to retrieve a hard drive that contains 8,000 Bitcoin that he accidentally discarded in 2013. The hard drive holds the Bitcoin Howells mined in 2009, and was worth around $1 million at the time but is now valued at approximately $527 million.
Over the years, Howells repeatedly asked the council's permission to excavate the landfill where the hard drive is believed to be, but he claims his pleas have been largely ignored. In response, he is now suing the council for £495 million, or $646 million, which represents the peak value the Bitcoin reached earlier this year.
The case is set to be heard in December, but Howells hopes to persuade the council to agree to an excavation before the legal battle actually begins. He assembled a team, including the former head of the landfill, to carry out a $13 million excavation that could take between 18 and 36 months, with an additional year of remediation work.
Despite the council’s rejection of his previous requests because of environmental concerns, Howells still offered the council 10% of the Bitcoin’s value, which would be £41 million based on current prices.
Bitcoin Approaches Key Leves
BTC surged toward $68,000 during the Oct. 15 Wall Street open, which were its highest levels since July. Traders are now focused on Bitcoin’s approach to its previous all-time high of $69,000 that was reached in 2021.
According to popular analyst Skew, the market structure for BTC is still bullish, and a higher high above $69,000 could lead to even more long-term trend shifts. Skew pointed out the importance of the relative strength index (RSI) staying above 50, which typically supports sustained upward momentum.
Rekt Capital, another analyst, also shared that Bitcoin broke above mid-term resistance from August and now needs a weekly close above this level to confirm a breakout. Historical rejections at these levels could signal that traders should still tread carefully, but if Bitcoin closes in this range, it might set the stage for more gains.
Meanwhile, data from CoinGlass revealed liquidity gaps above Bitcoin’s current price, with buyer interest concentrated around $65,000.
Bitcoin ETF flow (Source: Farside Investors)
Bitcoin’s current performance comes in the middle of heightened attention on US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which saw impressive net inflows recently. However, analysts warn that while these inflows have previously led to price rejections, strong spot market demand could still be the key to overcoming resistance around $69,000 to $70,000. Sustained buying pressure will certainly be needed for Bitcoin to break through this critical zone and potentially reach new highs.
ETFs Could Surpass Satoshi in Bitcoin Holdings by Christmas
Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s leading ETF expert, predicted that Bitcoin ETFs are on course to surpass Satoshi Nakamoto as the largest holders of Bitcoin by Christmas. Currently, the combined holdings of Bitcoin ETFs stand at close to 938,533 BTC, based on the latest data. Balchunas’ prediction was made after inflows into Bitcoin. On Monday alone, $550 million was added, bringing ETF net inflows very close to the $20 billion mark.
Despite these inflows, some people believe Bitcoin's price has shown underwhelming performance. Balchunas mentioned that if ETFs are buying, other holders must be selling at the same rate or more, explaining the lack of a stronger price movement.
Bitcoin is currently trading hands at $67,184 after a 2.5% price jump over the past day. The crypto is, however, still down more than 8% from its all-time high.
David Lawant, the head of research at FalconX, pointed out a “statistically significant” relationship between ETF flows and Bitcoin prices, with a correlation coefficient of 0.30. This correlation has been strengthening recently, and Lawant suggests that if ETFs remain the main source of new capital in the crypto market, the relationship between ETF flows and prices may continue to grow stronger as the market stabilizes.