In a shocking revelation for the cryptoverse, blockchain sleuths have supposedly determined the magnitude of the Bitcoin held by Elon Musk’s behemoths SpaceX and Tesla.
According to Arkham Intelligence, these two companies collectively own well over $1 billion worth of the world’s oldest and largest cryptocurrency.
Tesla And SpaceX Holding Nearly 20,000 BTC
Arkham Intelligence has made a startling discovery.
In a March 7 report, the on-chain sleuth revealed that Tesla currently holds 1,509 BTC across 68 wallets, valued at roughly $770.7 million. Meanwhile, SpaceX boasts its own Bitcoin treasure trove, with holdings totalling 8,290 BTC, worth some $556 million — distributed among 28 addresses. Combined, Tesla and SpaceX hold 19,794 BTC, valued at over $1.3 billion at current prices.
What’s particularly interesting about Arkham’s analysis is that it contradicts Tesla’s earlier disclosure in its fourth-quarter results, where the EV maker claimed to own 9,720 BTC. Arkham’s revelation indicates that Tesla holds 1,789 more BTC than the previously reported figure.
Arkham also provided a timeline of Tesla and SpaceX’s Bitcoin holdings and sales from early 2021. Tesla’s initial foray into the crypto world began in February 2021 after the company purchased an eye-popping $1.5 billion in BTC. This move sent ripples throughout the crypto market, propelling Bitcoin’s price to new highs.
Tesla’s BTC adoption, however, was short-lived, with the electric maker first offloading around 10% of its reserves in March 2021. Then, in the second quarter of 2022, Tesla liquidated about 75% of its BTC holdings.
Furthermore, Elon Musk mentioned in 2021 that the space exploration company owned BTC, though the exact amount was unknown at the time as the firm is not publicly listed. As per Arkham, SpaceX is now sitting on $132 million in BTC profits, while Tesla would book a profit of over $454 million if it liquidated its holdings today.
Elon Musk’s Stance On Crypto
Musk notably has a love/hate relationship with Bitcoin. In 2021, he voiced optimism about BTC, announcing plans for Tesla to accept Bitcoin as a payment option for electric cars. However, the eccentric billionaire suspended these plans just weeks later, citing long-brewing environmental concerns about Bitcoin mining.
In late December 2023, Musk told Ark Invest CEO Cathie Woods that he hardly thinks about cryptocurrencies these days.
It’s worth mentioning that Musk has long been an outspoken proponent of Dogecoin (DOGE), frequently touting the meme cryptocurrency as the “people’s money”. DOGE is currently the only crypto asset Tesla accepts for merchandise purchases.
Nonetheless, multiple market pundits predict a stratospheric rise in BTC’s price this year, attributing their optimism to the blockbuster success of the newly approved U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the incoming bullish impact of the April rewards halving event as key factors behind their forecasts.
