The transfer was flagged by Arkham Intelligence, which suggested that the company likely made a strategic move to simplify fund management and reduce transaction fees. The timing also aligns with rising tensions over SpaceX’s government contracts and broader efforts by Elon Musk to integrate crypto into his companies’ ecosystems. SpaceX now reportedly holds nearly 7,000 BTC, valued at over $800 million.
SpaceX Transfers $153M in Bitcoin
SpaceX quietly moved 1,308 Bitcoin, worth around $153 million. This was its first on-chain activity in three years.
The transfer was flagged by Arkham Intelligence, which noticed that the Bitcoin was withdrawn from 16 Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) addresses and consolidated into a single SegWit-compatible Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) address. This move is believed to be a strategic consolidation that may simplify management and reduce future transaction costs. While neither SpaceX nor its founder Elon Musk commented on the action, the timing coincides with rising political tensions and potential shifts in government contracts.
The Pentagon recently announced its intention to diversify contractors for the $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system, due to concerns over its dependence on SpaceX. This development follows reports from June that the Trump administration considered reviewing or canceling up to $22 billion in contracts with the company thanks to a public dispute between Musk and the president.
Musk’s engagement with cryptocurrency has been volatile. In 2021, his promotion of Dogecoin led to a price surge before a dramatic crash. Tesla, another Musk-led firm, bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin the same year and briefly accepted it as payment before reversing the decision due to environmental concerns. Some of those holdings were later sold.
After his acquisition of Twitter, which was then rebranded as X, Musk began pushing toward creating a broader financial ecosystem. X has since acquired money transmitter licenses in multiple US states, and backend code has hinted at the development of a native crypto wallet, although no crypto features have launched publicly.
In 2024, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya revealed that SpaceX uses stablecoins to collect payments for its Starlink internet service in developing countries, allowing it to bypass slow or expensive banking systems. SpaceX is now believed to hold approximately 6,977 Bitcoin, which is valued at around $815 million. This places it among the largest corporate holders of the cryptocurrency.
