Elon Musk's SpaceX Eyes Historic IPO While Bitcoin Holdings Tumble $235M in Three Months

Elon Musk’s space exploration company is on the verge of a major milestone. According to Bloomberg, SpaceX is preparing a confidential IPO filing with the SEC as early as March, setting the stage for a June listing that could become the largest public offering in history. The proposed valuation exceeds $1.75 trillion, and the company aims to raise approximately $50 billion—surpassing Saudi Aramco’s previous 2019 record of $29 billion. However, embedded within SpaceX’s inevitable S-1 filing lies an asset that will suddenly become a matter of public record and investor scrutiny: a substantial bitcoin portfolio that has experienced significant volatility.

The $1.75 Trillion Valuation Comes With Bitcoin Exposure

SpaceX holds approximately 8,285 bitcoin across 43 addresses maintained in Coinbase Prime custody, according to blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence. As of early March, this position is valued at roughly $545 million based on current BTC pricing around $67,380. The erosion has been steep. In December, the same holdings were worth approximately $780 million when bitcoin traded near $92,500. By early February, after the SpaceX-xAI merger refocused attention on crypto assets, the position had declined to around $650 million as BTC hovered near $78,000. The $235 million loss over three months represents substantial mark-to-market decline without the company making a single trade.

This presents a unique challenge for Musk’s rocket company. When SpaceX becomes a public entity, its quarterly earnings reports and regulatory filings will inevitably reflect bitcoin’s price movements. If bitcoin continues its recent pullback, investors will see unrealized losses prominently displayed on the balance sheet. If it rallies, they’ll see paper gains. Unlike private companies, SpaceX will have no option to obscure this volatility from the market.

Tesla’s Precedent: How Crypto Holdings Became a Balance Sheet Burden

Elon Musk’s experience with bitcoin-related headline risk at Tesla offers the clearest cautionary tale. Tesla has recorded hundreds of millions in paper losses during past market corrections despite maintaining its core position unchanged. These swings created recurring market volatility and media attention that occasionally overshadowed the company’s core business performance. However, it’s worth noting that Tesla reported $94.8 billion in total revenue and $17 billion in gross profit during 2025, meaning crypto-related mark-to-market fluctuations have minimal impact on the overall financial narrative.

SpaceX faces a different scenario. The company will make its first financial disclosure to public markets during one of bitcoin’s sharper corrections in recent years rather than during a bull market. The $235 million decline in three months—entirely divorced from SpaceX’s operational performance—will occupy investors’ attention at a critical moment when the market forms initial impressions of the company’s value.

SpaceX’s Unique Approach: Hold and Don’t Trade

What distinguishes SpaceX’s strategy from Tesla’s is revealing. While Tesla has actively bought and sold bitcoin, adjusting its position over time, SpaceX has simply held its allocation through every market cycle. Arkham Intelligence data indicates the company has maintained roughly 8,300 BTC since at least early 2026, suggesting a buy-and-hold philosophy rather than active portfolio management.

SpaceX’s bitcoin position peaked near $2 billion in late 2021 during the crypto bull market, crashed significantly through 2022, and has spent the subsequent two years fluctuating between $400 million and $800 million. The company has shown no inclination to reduce, increase, or trade out of this exposure regardless of market conditions. This passive approach contrasts with Tesla’s more active stance, though both companies now face the reality that crypto holdings will feature prominently in shareholder communication going forward.

For Elon Musk and SpaceX, the pending IPO means years of explaining bitcoin volatility to institutional investors unfamiliar with crypto asset holdings becoming standard practice among major corporations. The $545 million question is whether the market will view this as a strategic reserve, a legacy investment, or a liability on the path to becoming the world’s most valuable company.