SpaceX Offloads $373M Bitcoin Holdings Acquired in 2021-2022

Aerospace technology company SpaceX has reportedly divested approximately $373 million worth of Bitcoin that it had acquired starting in 2021. The move comes as part of the firm's financial strategy, as revealed in a recent report from The Wall Street Journal on August 17. SpaceX had amassed a Bitcoin holding valued at $373 million on its balance sheet over the course of 2021 and 2022. However, the company has since decided to sell off this cryptocurrency asset. The report, which cited documents detailing the company's financials, disclosed that SpaceX incurred a total of approximately $5.2 billion in expenses for the year 2022, along with $5.4 billion in both 2021 and 2022. These expenses encompassed property and equipment acquisitions, as well as research and development costs. In 2021, SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk publicly announced the company's acquisition of a certain amount of Bitcoin. This announcement followed a disclosure by Tesla, another company co-founded by Musk, which revealed its intention to invest $1.5 billion in the crypto asset. This news contributed to Bitcoin reaching a then-record high price of over $43,000. Tesla, in its second-quarter 2023 earnings report, indicated that it had sold the majority of its Bitcoin holdings, retaining only $184 million worth. In the second quarter of 2022, Tesla liquidated more than 30,000 BTC for approximately $936 million, representing about 75% of its initial $1.5 billion Bitcoin holdings. Elon Musk, known as one of the wealthiest individuals globally, has frequently utilized social media to express his thoughts on various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Dogecoin. He even briefly replaced Twitter's iconic blue bird logo with the Dogecoin "shiba inu" image. Since his substantial acquisition of Twitter in October 2022, which was later rebranded as "X," Musk has hinted at the platform's potential to encompass an entire financial ecosystem, potentially offering banking and payment services. The specific timing of SpaceX's Bitcoin sale remains undisclosed. It's worth noting that the cryptocurrency market underwent a notable downturn in 2022, marked by the collapse of major entities such as Terraform Labs. While some companies like SpaceX have opted to offload their Bitcoin holdings, numerous technology firms and financial institutions continue to hold onto various cryptocurrencies, highlighting the ongoing diversity of strategies within the digital asset space.