When Elon Musk's SpaceX goes public in early June, it will arrive on the markets with a new distinction, according to Grayscale's Head of Research, Zach Pandl. Musk's space company filed for
When Elon Musk's SpaceX goes public in early June, it will arrive on the markets with a new distinction, according to Grayscale's Head of Research, Zach Pandl.
Musk's space company filed for an initial public offering on May 20, confirming plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker SPCX. The debut is expected as early as June 12.
The offering is poised to be the largest stock market debut in history, with SpaceX seeking to raise at least $75 billion at a valuation of as much as $2 trillion.
But for Pandl, the IPO is a different type of big signal.
Related: Elon Musk's SpaceX moves millions in Bitcoin amid IPO reports
In a post on May 26, Pandl pointed to SpaceX's S-1 filing, which shows it currently holds 18,712 Bitcoin (BTC), worth about $1.4 billion.
He drew a clear line between "two types of corporate HODLers":
DATs are companies such as Michael Saylor's Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR). The software-turned-Bitcoin treasury giant holds 843,738 BTC worth around $63.11 billion, as of May 27. It exists primarily as a Bitcoin access vehicle for public equity investors. Their operating businesses are small relative to their BTC holdings, and their identity is inseparable from the asset.
But diversified businesses are a different story. Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Block (NYSE: XYZ), and now SpaceX hold Bitcoin as one line item in a broader corporate treasury strategy. For these companies, Bitcoin is a hedge against fiat currency risk, not the whole point. In fact, SpaceX's Bitcoin holdings amount to just 0.1% of its expected market cap.
Pandl argues that this second category is where the real growth is coming. SpaceX's IPO could accelerate that shift by normalizing Bitcoin as a mainstream treasury asset for large, operationally complex companies.
So, while Michael Saylor's Strategy holds the crown for having the largest amount of Bitcoin as a public company, SpaceX's estimated post-IPO market cap could make it the largest public company to hold Bitcoin, dwarfing those of Coinbase, Block, and even Tesla in relative terms.
SpaceX going public with a billion-dollar Bitcoin position and receiving a mainstream valuation that barely registers it sends a quiet but powerful signal that holding Bitcoin doesn't make you a crypto company. It makes you a forward-thinking one.
"SpaceX and Tesla were relatively early corporate adopters of Bitcoin, but we expect many other forward-thinking businesses to follow in the coming years," Pandl wrote.
He expects the number of pure-play DATs to decline over time as those firms diversify their business models, even as the total number of corporate Bitcoin holders grows. The net effect, he argues, could meaningfully bolster demand for Bitcoin and support its long-term value.
Related: SpaceX taps crypto exec for first-ever crewed Mars mission
