Elon Musk’s decision to merge SpaceX with artificial intelligence firm xAI has effectively created a trillion-dollar tech heavyweight and quietly put the spotlight back on one of the world’s largest corporate bitcoin positions as the company moves closer to a public listing.
While the deal was framed around building “space-based AI,” the combined entity effectively inherits SpaceX’s long-standing bitcoin holdings, estimated at around 8,300 BTC based on previous disclosures.
At current prices, that stake is worth about $650 million, small compared to a potential IPO valuation of more than $1 trillion, but large enough to matter in accounting, disclosure and investor optics.
SpaceX first revealed its bitcoin purchase in 2021 and, unlike Musk’s energy company Tesla, has remained private, shielding the position from the quarterly earnings volatility that public companies face under fair value accounting rules. That changes once IPO preparation begins.
Tesla’s handling of its BTC remains a cautionary tale, as the automaker has posted hundreds of millions of dollars in paper losses during previous drawdowns, even as it made no changes to its holdings.
The SpaceX-xAI merger concentrates that exposure within a single corporate structure at a time when bitcoin has returned to extreme volatility following recent sell-offs driven by liquidations.
Unlike Tesla, which previously sold and bought back bitcoin, SpaceX has shown little inclination to trade its position. That stability could appeal to long-term investors, but it also limits flexibility should market conditions deteriorate during the IPO window.
The deal also raises questions about how crypto assets are managed across Musk’s empire. Tesla, SpaceX and xAI have operated under different disclosure regimes, accounting treatments and capital structures, given their different statuses as public and private companies.
