Tesla Has More Bitcoins Than Coinbase, Other Crypto Firms: Tracker

Elon Musk's Tesla has more Bitcoin holdings than Coinbase and other firms directly involved or providing actual cryptocurrency services, data from a tracker of companies' and countries' BTC holdings revealed.

Tesla is the third-largest known corporate holder of Bitcoin, the latest data from BitcoinTreasuries.net revealed. The company, best known for its EVs and its tech magnate founder, has a total of 9,720 Bitcoins worth some $675.76 million based on current prices.

The auto-tech behemoth is only behind crypto mining firm Marathon Digital, which has 16,930 Bitcoins acquired. On top of the list is Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor's MicroStrategy, with 214,246 BTC so far since it became one of the earliest known publicly-traded owners of the digital coin.

While Tesla is far behind MicroStrategy, its holdings surpass the treasuries of other companies actually working with cryptocurrencies and digital assets, including crypto exchange platform Coinbase, one of the world's leading digital currency exchanges.

Coinbase, which is faced with a complaint by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its alleged violations of securities laws, has acquired a total of 9,480 Bitcoins, making it the world's fourth-largest corporate holder of BTC, as per the tracker.

Fifth in line is seasoned Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 Mining, which has 9,110 Bitcoin holdings. Another prominent BTC miner, Riot Platforms, is sixth on the list with 8,067 BTC holdings so far. Behind Riot is Jack Dorsey-founded Block, Inc., which has 8,027 Bitcoins.

Various other companies offering crypto-related services or products are on the top 20 of the list, including Bitcoin Group, Galaxy Digital, and BIGG Digital Assets.

Despite not being a company that mines Bitcoin or offers crypto products, Tesla's Musk has had neutral views of the digital coin for years. Back in 2014, he said the cryptocurrency was "probably a good thing." He has also said neither he nor any of his companies will "ever create a crypto token," but so far, it appears he sees the coin's potential in the future, at least based on his holdings.

In Tesla's latest third quarter report, it was revealed that the EV giant did not let go of its BTC holdings. The company's continuing hold of its acquired Bitcoins has been viewed positively and deemed as Musk's subtle show of support for the cryptocurrency sector.