Heads are turning at the news that Tesla's Bitcoin wallet holdings have increased. Additionally, interest in Bitcoin is spiking after Bitcoin miner revenue hit near-record levels. The serious attention that Bitcoin is receiving at the moment is also evident in the fact that Travala.com launched a Bitcoin cashback program for premium travelers, merging crypto with travel services.
Tesla's Bitcoin Wallet Grows
Tesla's involvement with Bitcoin has once again caught the attention of the crypto community, after Arkham Intelligence, a crypto data analytics platform, introduces a new feature that tracks Tesla's Bitcoin wallet. According to the latest data, Tesla's Bitcoin wallet is currently holding about 11,509 BTC, an increase of 1,789 BTC from the 9,720 BTC reported during its last earnings announcement.
This has turned quite a few heads in the industry considering Tesla's historical transactions in Bitcoin. In February of 2021, under the leadership of Elon Musk, Tesla made a big investment in Bitcoin, buying $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency at what was near the peak of the last bull run. Shortly after this, the company announced it would accept Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles. However, this decision was reversed in just a few weeks, with Musk pointing towards the environmental concerns related to Bitcoin mining as the reason. Despite this initial enthusiasm and subsequent retreat, Tesla sold about 10% of its holdings in March of 2021 and went on to sell around 75% of its Bitcoin reserves in the second quarter of 2022.
Given the observed increase in Tesla's Bitcoin holdings, people in the crypto community are speculating about the company's current stance on Bitcoin. Some users have posited that Tesla may have started buying Bitcoin after its last earnings call, suggesting that these acquisitions might be finally revealed in the upcoming earnings report. Meanwhile, Tesla and Elon Musk have been tight-lipped about the matter.
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Tesla's foray into BTC is mirrored by Musk's other ventures, including SpaceX, which also added Bitcoin to its balance sheet. This was influenced by Michael Saylor, the co-founder and executive chairman of MicroStrategy, who is a very vocal advocate for institutional investment in Bitcoin. Currently, MicroStrategy holds about 193,000 BTC.
This resurgence in interest towards Bitcoin, especially from influential figures and corporations, certainly aligns with Michael Saylor's recent remarks at the Bitcoin Atlantis conference. Saylor suggested that the integration of AI and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could potentially trigger a decade-long "gold rush" for Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Miners Reap Near-Record Earnings
Bitcoin’s positive momentum is certainly obvious in the fact that, on Mar, 6, Bitcoin miner revenue soared to its second-highest daily total ever, reaching $75.9 million, closely following a surge in Bitcoin's price to a new all-time high above $69,200 just the day before. This milestone was reported by Julio Moreno, the head of research at CryptoQuant, marking a significant day for the cryptocurrency sector despite Bitcoin's slight dip to $67,500.
The revenue boost came on the very same day that Bitcoin miner Hut 8 made an announcement about the immediate closure of its mining site in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The company pointed to power disruptions and increasing energy costs as some of the main reasons for the shutdown. The Drumheller facility, which produced an average of 48 Bitcoins annually, represented about 1.4% of Hut 8's total holdings and accounted for 11% of its hashing power.
This recent Bitcoin miner revenue peak of $75.9 million is second only to the record $77.3 million daily revenue that was achieved on Apr. 14 of 2021, when Bitcoin was trading above $60,000. Interestingly, the run-up to these high revenue days saw a big dip in Bitcoin mining stocks, with some of the largest names dropping over 27% in the three days before Mar. 1, just as Bitcoin reached the $64,000 threshold.
Analysts like Mitchell Askew from Blockware Solutions suggest that investor caution ahead of Bitcoin's upcoming halving event is the "most logical" explanation for this trend. The halving will reduce miner rewards from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, hugely impacting the mining ecosystem's profitability.
Despite these developments and historical patterns indicating potential price corrections after peaks in miner revenue, many analysts are still very optimistic about Bitcoin's future trajectory. However, some technical analyses, like those from pseudonymous analyst Dave the wave, hint at a possible retracement to below $44,000 in 2024. Dave the wave reminded his followers of the importance of monitoring Bitcoin's performance against previous all-time highs and suggests that the market may continue its parabolic movement until a major technical break occurs.
Travel More, Earn Bitcoin
Meanwhile, Travala.com, a crypto-friendly travel agency, is launching a Bitcoin cashback program which will be targeted at its top-tier travelers, particularly those who have reached the Smart Diamond tier in their loyalty reward scheme. The program rewards travelers with Bitcoin cashback for bookings made on the platform, allowing users to either spend their Bitcoin on other travel services or withdraw it. Bitcoin payments already represent around 9% of the platform's bookings, with travelers spending more than $5 million in BTC in 2023.
However, the program has an element of exclusivity; it requires users to own a Travel Tiger NFT and stake 2,500 AVA tokens to be able to get Smart Diamond membership. With only 1,000 Travel Tiger NFTs available, this definitely limits the number of participants in the cashback scheme.
These NFTs, which are utility collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain, have a floor price of 2.6 Ether, valued at about $9,800. Travala aims to add an interesting twist to traditional cashback programs by reducing fees and chargeback fraud risks through cryptocurrency-based rewards. The initiative not only incentivizes travel bookings with Bitcoin but will also have the added benefit of introducing more users to the Web3 ecosystem.
