The quiet bitcoin giant in Musk’s empire
When Elon Musk started talking about possibly merging SpaceX with Tesla or his AI company xAI, most people focused on the obvious stuff – rockets, electric cars, artificial intelligence. But I think there’s something else that deserves attention, something that doesn’t get talked about enough. Both companies together hold nearly 20,000 bitcoin. That’s worth about $1.7 billion right now.
It’s interesting to see how this plays out. SpaceX has been holding bitcoin since early 2021, with around 8,285 BTC worth $680 million. Tesla holds 11,509 BTC, valued near $1 billion. They didn’t change their position last quarter, which maybe shows they’re taking a longer view.
Accounting differences that matter
Here’s where things get tricky. Tesla is public, so they have to follow fair-value accounting rules. Every time bitcoin prices swing, it shows up in their earnings. Last quarter, they booked a $239 million after-tax loss when bitcoin dropped from around $114,000 to the high $80,000s.
SpaceX is different. They’re still private, so they don’t have that quarter-to-quarter visibility. They can hold bitcoin without investors watching every price movement. But that might change if SpaceX goes public, which could value the company near $1.5 trillion.
When you’re talking about numbers that big, even passive crypto exposure becomes something investors look at closely. Some big institutional investors are still cautious about digital assets on corporate balance sheets.
Tesla’s complicated history with bitcoin
Tesla’s relationship with bitcoin has been, well, complicated. They bought $1.5 billion worth in early 2021, sold some shortly after, then unloaded about 75% of their holdings in 2022 near the market lows. That whole episode gave Tesla a reputation as a high-profile but inconsistent corporate holder.
It makes any renewed focus on Musk-linked bitcoin holdings more sensitive. Neither company has said they plan to buy or sell bitcoin as part of the merger talks. The holdings are actually a small fraction of daily trading volumes, so it’s not like they’re moving markets.
Why corporate concentration matters
Still, corporate concentration matters at the margins. There’s renewed debate about bitcoin as a balance-sheet asset, especially with gold surging and broader risk-off flows happening. Whether SpaceX merges with Tesla, pairs with xAI, or stays independent, these talks show something important.
Bitcoin has quietly become embedded inside some of the world’s most valuable technology firms. Even when it’s not the headline story, it’s there on the balance sheet. And that alone is enough to keep investors watching.
A merger wouldn’t change bitcoin’s fundamentals, but it would reshape how one of the largest corporate positions is governed, accounted for, and potentially financed. Any deal is still preliminary and could fall apart, but if it happens, it would concentrate that exposure under a single corporate structure.
At a time when bitcoin prices are volatile again and investor scrutiny is high, that concentration becomes something worth thinking about. It’s not just about the technology or the business models – it’s about how these companies manage their assets, including digital ones.
