SpaceX Bitcoin and a Billion Dollar Drop. Why?

The Internet was rife with rumours on 18th August about a SpaceX Bitcoin sale that caused cryptocurrency owners to dump their holdings. Supposedly, Spacex had sold off $373 million worth of Bitcoin, and the ensuing panic led to a billion dollar drop in cryptocurrency futures.

SpaceX Bitcoin sales in 2021 and 2022

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is famous among crypto fans for his talk of ‘diamond hands’, or holding onto a particular cryptocurrency through thick and thin. SpaceX itself, however, is a commercial entity and not an extension of Musk’s public crypto persona. Bitcoin traders are pointing to a Wall Street Journal article claiming that SpaceX documents show that in 2021 and 2022, the company wrote down a total of $373 million in Bitcoin holdings and sold them off. However, the 17th August report seems to have no direct connection with the fall on the 18th, and there are now indications that SpaceX is selling any Bitcoin at this time.

A Coindesk.com analyst looked at the market drop and wrote that market analysts were pointing to a variety of factors coming to a head at the same time. Moreover, the Bitcoin market had been in its summer doldrums lately, and extended drifting without much change often precedes a sudden shift. Other technical factors made that shift go negative.

Crypto in Space

Elon Musk’s relationship with cryptocurrency became famous when he became tied with Dogecoin and was subsequently dubbed by coin’s community as their CEO. The laughs over the meme coin connection died on 31st May when Musk was charged in US federal court with insider trading related to the cryptocurrency, and what is called a pump-and-dump scheme. Whether the allegation that he used Twitter (now labeled ‘X’) with the intention of affecting the price of Dogecoin sticks remains to be seen, but considering his trash talk with then-Roscosmos head Dmitri Rogozin (whose own trash talk turned to death threats after Musk began supporting Ukraine with Starlink satellite capability), the jury’s out.

Musk has stated that he sees cryptocurrency as the way forward for economic life on Mars. The situation is unclear, but besides Doge, there is at least one project with the announced aim of being the currency of Mars, called Dogelon Mars (ELON), making the rounds.