SpaceX wrote down $373M worth of Bitcoin back in 2021-2022: Report

Elon Musk announced in 2021 that SpaceX had some Bitcoin holdings following an SEC filing showing Tesla planned to purchase $1.5 billion worth of the cryptocurrency.

Aerospace technology firm SpaceX reportedly wrote down the value of Bitcoin it owns by a total of $373 million last year and the year before and may have sold all of its holdings. 

According to an Aug. 17 report in The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX recorded $373 million worth of Bitcoin (BTC) holdings on its balance sheet in 2021 and 2022 and has reportedly sold the cryptocurrency.

It hasn't been confirmed whether the entire $373 million stash was sold. 

"SpaceX wrote down the value of bitcoin it owns by a total of $373 million last year and in 2021 and has sold the cryptocurrency," reported the WSJ. 

The news outlet reportedly viewed documents on the firm’s financials showing roughly $5.2 billion in total expenses for 2022, and $5.4 billion in 2021 and 2022 for acquiring property and equipment in addition to research and development costs.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk publicly announced in 2021 that the firm had acquired a certain amount of Bitcoin. This followed a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing showing Tesla — another company co-founded by Musk — planned to purchase $1.5 billion worth of the crypto asset. The announcement likely contributed to BTC hitting a then-all-time-high price of more than $43,000.

According to Tesla's second-quarter 2023 earnings report, the firm had sold all but $184 million worth of its Bitcoin holdings. Tesla reported it had liquidated more than 30,000 BTC in the second quarter of 2022 for $936 million — roughly 75% of its original $1.5 billion BTC holdings. 

Related: Elon’s ‘not afraid of blowing things up’ — ex-Twitter exec on working under Musk

Musk, one of the richest people in the world, has often taken to social media to comment on certain cryptocurrencies, including Dogecoin (DOGE) and Bitcoin, even briefly changing Twitter's then-blue bird logo to the DOGE shiba inu. Since his $44 billion purchase of Twitter — later rebranded to X — in October 2022, he has suggested the platform could offer an ”entire financial world,” including banking and payment services.

Doges ftw pic.twitter.com/bl0trQ7BdU

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 19, 2023

The timing of SpaceX’s reported Bitcoin sale is unclear, but the crypto market experienced a significant crash in 2022 amid the collapse of major firms, including Terraform Labs. Many technology firms and financial institutions continue to hold Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

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Update (Aug. 17, 11:03 pm UTC): This article has been updated to reflect that it hasn't been confirmed whether SpaceX's entire Bitcoin holdings were sold, or only partially.