SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has transferred 1,308 BTC, valued at around $153 million, in its first on-chain transaction since 2021, sparking interest in the company’s crypto strategy.
The significant movement saw Bitcoin withdrawn from 16 Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) addresses and consolidated into a single Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) address, a transaction that has led to various interpretations by industry analysts. SpaceX has not publicly commented on the rationale for this substantial Bitcoin transfer.
This Bitcoin consolidation by SpaceX coincides with heightened uncertainty surrounding its defense contracts with the US government. In a related context, the administration of President Trump reportedly considered reviewing or canceling approximately $22 billion in SpaceX contracts in June following a public disagreement on X between the two. Although several were ultimately retained due to their significance, the incident underscored the growing uncertainty in SpaceX’s political landscape.
Further underscoring a potential strategic realignment, the US Pentagon revealed plans to expand the pool of partners for the Golden Dome missile defense project, a $175 billion initiative aimed at establishing a space-based satellite system for threat identification and monitoring. According to Reuters, the decision is driven by concerns about over-dependence on the aerospace company for the project.
SpaceX initially revealed its investment in the cryptocurrency as part of Elon Musk’s broader initiative to expand company assets and promote crypto usage in July 2021, alongside disclosing its substantial Bitcoin reserves. Musk’s engagement with digital currencies has been diverse, including promoting Dogecoin and briefly allowing Tesla to accept BTC as payment. Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya noted in a 2024 podcast that the firm uses stablecoins to process transactions for emerging Starlink users, circumventing conventional financial channels. As of the latest estimates, the aerospace company’s Bitcoin reserves stand at around 6,977 BTC, or $815 million, making it one of the biggest corporate holders of Bitcoin.
