Elon Musk’s consideration of a possible merger involving SpaceX, Tesla or artificial intelligence company xAI has focused renewed attention on a less-discussed part of his empire: one of the world’s largest corporate bitcoin wallets.
SpaceX and Tesla together hold nearly 20,000 bitcoins, according to public information, a reserve worth about $1.7 billion at current prices. This would make the entity the seventh largest BTC holder in the world, just behind CoinDesk owner Bullish’s 24,300 BTC.
While any deal remains preliminary and could still fail, a combination would concentrate this exposure under a single corporate structure at a time when bitcoin prices are once again volatile and investor scrutiny is high.
SpaceX has held Bitcoin since early 2021 and currently controls approximately 8,285 BTC, worth approximately $680 million. Tesla, meanwhile, holds 11,509 BTC, valued at nearly $1 billion, and has reported no change to this position in Q4 2025.
The electric vehicle maker posted an after-tax loss of $239 million on its digital assets last quarter as bitcoin fell from around $114,000 to $80,000.
A merger wouldn’t change Bitcoin’s fundamentals, but it would reshape how one of the company’s largest holdings is governed, accounted for and potentially funded.
Tesla is a public company subject to fair value accounting rules, which means that fluctuations in Bitcoin prices are reflected directly in profits. SpaceX, still private, has so far avoided this kind of quarter-to-quarter visibility.
This difference is important as SpaceX considers a possible IPO that could value the company at nearly $1.5 trillion. Exposure to cryptocurrencies, even passively, has become part of the due diligence process for large institutional investors, some of whom remain cautious about digital assets on company balance sheets.
Tesla’s past relationship with Bitcoin remains significant. The company disclosed a $1.5 billion purchase in early 2021, sold some of it shortly thereafter, then divested about 75% of its holdings in 2022, near bear market lows. T
The episode tarnished Tesla’s reputation as a prominent but inconsistent corporate shareholder, making any renewed focus on Musk-linked Bitcoin treasuries more sensitive.
As such, neither company has announced plans to buy or sell Bitcoin as part of the merger discussions, and the holdings represent a small fraction of daily trading volumes.
Yet corporate concentration only matters at the margins, especially as the narrative of bitcoin as a balance sheet asset is the subject of renewed debate amid soaring gold and broader risk aversion.
Whether SpaceX ultimately merges with Tesla, partners with xAI, or remains independent, the discussions highlight how bitcoin has quietly embedded itself within some of the world’s most valuable technology companies.
Even when bitcoin isn’t making headlines, it’s still on the balance sheet – and that alone is enough to keep investors on their toes.
