--- title: "Tesla’s $750 Million in Bitcoin Just Vanished From Where It Was Being Stored" description: "Disappearing Act In case you've forgotten, Elon Musk's Tesla is among the largest bitcoin whales in the world. So, when all of a sudden its over $760 million worth of the cryptocurrency seemingly vanished from its digital vault earlier this week, it stoked a bit of a panic. The automaker's hoard of bitcoin hasn't been […]" date: "2024-10-18" modified: "2024-10-18" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-bitcoin-vanished" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" tags: - "bitcoin" - "cryptocurrencies" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla’s $750 Million in Bitcoin Just Vanished From Where It Was Being Stored ![Tesla's entire hoard of over $760 million worth of bitcoin was emptied out earlier this week, transferred to unknown wallets.]() *\Image: Anna Moneymaker via Getty\* ## Disappearing Act In case you've forgotten, Elon Musk's Tesla is among the largest bitcoin whales in the world. So when all of a sudden its over $760 million worth of the cryptocurrency seemingly vanished from its digital vault earlier this week, it stoked a bit of a panic. The automaker's hoard of bitcoin hasn't been touched [in two years](). But now, every single one of the digital tokens has been moved to unknown wallets, [*Coindesk* reports](), raising fears in the crypto scene that Musk plans to sell off its decentralized assets. Since Musk is himself an influential figure in the space, such a massive sell-off could spark a wave of others dumping their coins, too, potentially causing its price to crash. It's unclear, however, what Tesla or Musk's intentions are with the transfer. ## Crypto Connoisseur You may well be aware of Musk's enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies — especially [Dogecoin](), a memecoin that he has consistently [peddled online](). Anything he says on the topic can carry enough weight to singlehandedly send prices [soaring]() (or in some cases, [plunging]()). In 2021, under his stewardship, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin. When [the sale was revealed](), it catalyzed another wave of hype for the digital assets. Pretty much everything after that has been more tepid. Months after the huge buy-in, Musk announced that Tesla would [no longer accept bitcoin for car payments](), citing environmental concerns around crypto mining and transactions. The biggest blow came the following summer, in 2022. Amid a downturn in bitcoin's valuation, Tesla offloaded a whopping [75 percent of its bitcoin holdings]() — at a [huge loss]() of some $200 million. Perhaps prudently, the automaker hasn't touched any of its precious coins since — until this week, that is — which are currently selling at historically high prices. ## Mystery Moves Nevertheless, what Musk and Tesla are preparing for by moving around its crypto stash is, at this point, merely speculation. There are no clear signs that they intend to sell, such as a transfer to a crypto exchange platform like Coinbase, as [*Coindesk* notes](). Still, for those with skin in the game, Musk's silence on the money move must be disquieting. **More on crypto:** *[Trump's Dubious Crypto Scheme Falls Flat on Its Face Immediately After Going Live]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()