Musk’s SpaceX–xAI tie-up draws fresh scrutiny to bitcoin accounting before IPO

Elon Musk’s move to merge SpaceX with artificial intelligence startup xAI has created a technology behemoth that could command a valuation approaching $1 trillion — while also bringing fresh scrutiny to one of the world’s larger corporate bitcoin holdings as the group edges toward a potential IPO.

Although the transaction has been marketed as a step toward developing “space-based AI,” the combined company will also assume SpaceX’s long-held bitcoin position, estimated at roughly 8,300 BTC based on prior disclosures. At current market prices, that stake is valued at around $650 million — small relative to a trillion-dollar market cap, but material when it comes to accounting treatment, disclosure obligations, and investor optics.

SpaceX first disclosed its bitcoin purchase in 2021 and, unlike Musk’s electric-vehicle maker Tesla, has remained privately held. That status has shielded its crypto holdings from the earnings volatility public companies must report under fair-value accounting rules. As IPO preparations progress, that protection would no longer apply.

Tesla’s experience offers a cautionary benchmark. The automaker has recorded hundreds of millions of dollars in paper losses tied to bitcoin price swings during past downturns, even when it made no changes to its holdings. Similar volatility could surface for SpaceX once it enters the public markets.

The SpaceX–xAI tie-up also concentrates crypto exposure within a single corporate structure at a time when bitcoin has returned to sharp price swings following recent liquidation-driven selloffs. Unlike Tesla, which has periodically sold and later repurchased bitcoin, SpaceX appears to have taken a buy-and-hold approach. That consistency may appeal to long-term investors, but it also limits flexibility if market conditions deteriorate during an IPO window.

More broadly, the merger raises questions about how digital assets are managed across Musk’s wider business empire. Tesla, SpaceX and xAI have historically operated under different disclosure regimes, accounting standards and capital structures, reflecting their mix of public and private ownership — differences that may now need to be reconciled as crypto exposure becomes more centralized and more visible to investors.