SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk, has moved 1,308 Bitcoin (BTC) worth approximately $153 million, marking its first on-chain activity in three years. This significant transfer involved withdrawing Bitcoin from 16 Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) addresses and consolidating it into a single SegWit-compatible Pay-to-Witness-Public-Key-Hash (P2WPKH) address. The company has not commented on the reasons behind this move, although analysts suggest it indicates a strategic adjustment.
This Bitcoin consolidation occurs amid escalating political tensions and the Pentagon’s decision to broaden its partners for defense contracts. In early June, reports indicated that the administration of US President Donald Trump threatened to review or cancel about $22 billion in SpaceX contracts due to a feud between Trump and Musk on X. Although many contracts were deemed “too critical to US interests to eliminate,” the incident highlighted growing political uncertainty for SpaceX.
Further signaling a shift, the Pentagon announced its intent to diversify partners for the $175 billion Golden Dome missile defense system. This initiative aims to build a space-based network of satellites for detecting and tracking threats. Citing concerns over “over-reliance on SpaceX,” the Trump administration is opening bids to other providers to ensure the Golden Dome is not solely dependent on SpaceX, as reported by Reuters.
SpaceX first disclosed its Bitcoin holdings in July 2021, alongside Tesla, as part of Elon Musk’s broader strategy to diversify company assets and support crypto adoption. While Musk’s relationship with cryptocurrency has been varied, including his past endorsements of Dogecoin and Tesla’s brief acceptance of BTC payments, the company’s current estimated holdings are substantial. Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya stated in a 2024 podcast that SpaceX utilizes stablecoins for Starlink payments in emerging markets, bypassing traditional banking systems. Currently, SpaceX is estimated to hold approximately 6,977 BTC, valued at about $815 million, positioning it among the largest corporate Bitcoin holders.
