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- As per Wall Street Journal, SpaceX sold approximately $373 million worth of Bitcoin acquired since 2021.
- Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, declared Bitcoin acquisition in 2021 after Tesla’s $1.5 billion investment.
SpaceX is said to have sold around $373 million worth of Bitcoin that it had obtained starting in 2021. As per a report from the Wall Street Journal on August 17, SpaceX noted Bitcoin holdings of about $373 million on its financial statement in 2021 and 2022. However, the company has now divested from the cryptocurrency.
As per records examined by the publication, SpaceX’s total expenditures for 2022 are estimated to be roughly $5.2 billion, along with an additional expenditure of $5.4 billion during 2021 and 2022 for property, equipment, and research and development activities.
Explanation of SpaceX’s Bitcoin Sales
In 2021, Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, publicly declared that the company had acquired a specific quantity of Bitcoin. This announcement came after a submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where Tesla, another firm co-founded by Musk, disclosed its plan to procure $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency. This declaration likely played a role in driving the price of Bitcoin above $43,000 at that juncture.
According to Tesla’s Q2 2023 financial report, the company sold off its remaining Bitcoin holdings valued at $184 million. Tesla’s report indicated that it had sold over 30,000 BTC for $936 million during the second quarter of 2022, which accounted for approximately 75% of its initial holdings of 1.5 billion BTC.
Elon Musk, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals, has frequently utilized social media to share remarks about cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin and Bitcoin. He even briefly changed Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo to feature the DOGE Shiba Inu. Following his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion (later renamed X) in October 2022, he hinted at the platform’s potential to encompass “the entire financial world,” encompassing financial services such as banking and payments.
Doges ftw pic.twitter.com/bl0trQ7BdU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 19, 2023
The exact timing of SpaceX’s speculated Bitcoin sale remains uncertain, but the cryptocurrency market faced a notable decline in 2022 due to the downfall of prominent enterprises like Terraform Labs. Numerous tech firms and financial establishments hold Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
Instances of crypto scams involving Elon Musk and SpaceX remain widespread.
In October 2022, after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, a noticeable surge in fraudulent activities emerged, with scammers utilizing images of the billionaire to peddle cryptocurrencies. These scams predominantly proliferate through advertisements acquired by individuals purporting to be “verified” users on X.
The predicament lies in the fact that X no longer authenticates the legitimacy of its platform users. Elon Musk instituted a fee of $8 per month for obtaining the blue checkmark, allowing virtually anyone with a small sum of money to acquire “verification.”
The majority of these deceptive crypto schemes showcase an image of Musk, arms folded, accompanied by the statement “SpaceX Token Presale is Live.”
SpaceX’s fascination with Dogecoin (DOGE) has also manifested in recent times.
Musk revealed in May 2021 that a complete mission of SpaceX would be funded exclusively with DOGE. The CEO of an affiliated company, Geometric Energy Corporation (GEC), noted that the undertaking incurred a substantial cost, reaching millions.
It remains uncertain whether SpaceX or GEC currently possess any portion of the Dogecoin utilized to finance the mission. The mission has encountered multiple postponements but is slated to initiate on November 15, 2023.
