Elon Musk's aerospace company SpaceX has transferred $257 million price of Bitcoin, its second large-scale transfer in three months, prompting speculation a few possible sale as the corporate faces increasing financial and political pressure.
SpaceX transferred Bitcoin (BTC) on Tuesday, marking the corporate's first wallet moves since July.
The SpaceX-tagged wallet “1MDyM” transferred $130 million price of Bitcoin to the address “bc1qj,” while one other SpaceX wallet “1AXeF” sent $127 million price of Bitcoin to the address “bc1qq,” in accordance with data from blockchain intelligence platform Nansen.
The two recipient addresses neither transferred nor sold the Bitcoin, nor has SpaceX commented on the explanation for the transactions.
The SpaceX marked wallet “1MDyM” transfers. Source: Nansen.ai
The wallet move marks SpaceX's second transfer in three months, after the aerospace company transferred $153 million price of Bitcoin in July, its first fund move since 2022.
Cointelegraph has reached out to SpaceX for comment on the explanation for the Bitcoin transfer.
While Elon Musk recently praised Bitcoin for its energy-based, inflation-proof economic model, the billionaire's relationship with the cryptocurrency industry has been complicated.
Musk's SpaceX first disclosed its BTC holdings in July 2021, together with electric automobile maker Tesla, which purchased $1.5 billion price of BTC earlier this 12 months.
In May 2021, Tesla suspended Bitcoin payments for vehicle purchases citing environmental concerns, causing the Bitcoin price to fall 6% from $54,800 to $51,600 in an hour.
While Tesla has not yet sold most of its Bitcoin holdings, the carmaker has not yet commented on reintroducing Bitcoin payments, as Musk previously promised should the mining network expand its use of renewable energy.
Bitcoin mining's sustainable energy consumption has reached an all-time high of over 55%, as shown within the chart above, created by climate technology enterprise capitalist Daniel Batten and Bitcoin analyst Willy Woo.
SpaceX is under increasing pressure as NASA finalizes the lunar lander contract
SpaceX's Bitcoin holdings have received increasing attention because the aerospace company faces growing political and financial pressure.
On Monday, acting NASA chief Sean Duffy said his agency would open the lunar mission contract to competitors aside from Elon Musk's SpaceX, which has experienced delays within the timing of the Starship lunar mission.
“We're competing with China, so we want the very best company to land us on the moon as quickly as possible. SpaceX has won a contract to construct HLS, but progress is slow,” Duffy said in a CNBC interview on Monday.
SpaceX reached a $4.4 billion agreement with NASA in 2021 that set a 2027 deadline for a moon landing by the corporate's fully reusable Starship vehicle.
Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin are expected to bid for a similar contract as SpaceX's primary competitors.
