SpaceX Sells Bitcoin Worth $373 Million

• Financial

In 2021, space technology giant SpaceX boldly entered the Bitcoin realm, making an investment that would be closely watched by financial analysts and crypto enthusiasts alike. By the end of the year, the company reported approximately $373 million worth of Bitcoin on its balance sheet.

But, as disclosed by a recent Wall Street Journal article dated Aug. 17, SpaceX has since parted ways with its Bitcoin holdings. Delving deeper into SpaceX's financial statements, reporters unearthed documents showing the company's extensive outlays: a whopping $5.2 billion in 2022 and a combined $5.4 billion over 2021 and 2022.

These expenses spanned across property, equipment acquisitions, research, and development efforts.

Elon Musk: A Pivotal Player in the Crypto Game

SpaceX's foray into the Bitcoin world didn't arise out of the blue. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, had already turned heads in 2021 with the revelation that SpaceX had acquired a significant amount of Bitcoin.

To add to the buzz, Tesla – another of Musk's ventures – announced intentions to buy a staggering $1.5 billion in crypto assets, as evidenced by a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. This declaration undeniably played a part in rocketing Bitcoin to an all-time high of over $43,000.

Fast forward to 2023, Tesla’s Q2 earnings report brought another shocker. The automobile titan had offloaded almost its entire Bitcoin portfolio, retaining just $184 million. A deeper dive into the numbers revealed that in the second quarter of 2022, Tesla liquidated over 30,000 BTC, fetching a sum of $936 million.

This was approximately 75% of its initial BTC valuation of $1.5 billion. Musk, known for his influential online presence, has never been shy about sharing his crypto sentiments. His penchant for Dogecoin became especially clear when he amusingly transformed Twitter's iconic bluebird into a DOGE-emblazoned Shiba Inu.

This playful jest came soon after his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now renamed X) in October 2022, during which he hinted at Twitter's potential transformation into a full-blown financial service provider. However, the world of crypto remains volatile.

Just last week, cryptocurrency values took a significant hit, reminiscent of last year's turmoil when Tesla offloaded the lion's share of its Bitcoin assets. The specifics of SpaceX's Bitcoin sale remain hazy, coinciding with the crypto market's crash in 2022.