CoinDesk
SpaceX has shed more than $600 billion in market value over three trading days, a roughly 23% slide triggered by a plan to sell at least $20 billion of bonds to fund the AI buildout it absorbed in its February xAI acquisition. The stock dropped 16% on Monday to $154.60, its lowest since the company's June 12 debut, and the selling continued into Tuesday, with a Hyperliquid-tracked perpetual futures contract down another 15% to around $151. A week ago SpaceX was worth close to $2.5 trillion and had briefly overtaken Amazon and Microsoft; it now sits just above $2 trillion. The 16% single-session drop on a single headline is amplified by a thin trading float, but the magnitude also reflects broader investor doubt about the size of the AI spending by big tech.
Why it matters
Bitcoin fell less than 1% over the same stretch, holding near $63,600, per CoinDesk data. That is the read: the newly public megacaplost half of bitcoin's entire $1.3 trillion market cap in three sessions, while the crypto it is most often benchmarked against barely moved. The deeper point is structural. The same AI-driven risk appetite that has lifted crypto off its lows this month is starting to crack at the edges, with the Nasdaq down 1.3% on the same session and Alphabet and Amazon also sliding. Bitcoin's market is far deeper and more liquid than SpaceX's float, which is part of why it absorbed the week in stride, but the engine driving both is the same.
Market impact
Pulling the other way is oil. The U.S.–Iran peace process is advancing: Washington issued a 60-day license letting Iran sell oil again, and negotiators described the talks as productive. Brent settled below $78 a barrel, which eases the inflationary pressure that has kept the Federal Reserve hawkish, a slow tailwind for risk assets including bitcoin. For now, that leaves BTC drifting rather than breaking, near the lower end of the range it has held all month, caught between a wobbling AI trade and an easing oil picture. The split matters for positioning. Deeper cracks in the AI trade could erode the bid bitcoin has leaned on; a sustained oil-led inflation cooldown does the opposite.
Frequently asked questions
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How much of bitcoin's market cap did SpaceX lose in three days?
Roughly half. SpaceX shed more than $600 billion in market value over three sessions, compared with bitcoin's total market cap of about $1.3 trillion.
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Why did SpaceX drop 23% in three trading days?
The trigger was a plan to sell at least $20 billion in bonds, the company's first time borrowing in the debt markets, to fund the AI buildout absorbed in the xAI acquisition. A thin trading float amplified the move.
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How did bitcoin react to the SpaceX sell-off?
Bitcoin fell less than 1% over the same three sessions, holding near $63,600, per CoinDesk data. Its deeper liquidity helped it absorb the week in stride.
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What macro factor is pulling in the opposite direction for risk assets?
Oil. The U.S.–Iran peace process is advancing, with Washington issuing a 60-day license letting Iran sell oil again, and Brent settling below $78 a barrel, easing inflationary pressure on the Fed.
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What is the bigger risk for bitcoin from this episode?
The AI-driven risk appetite that helped lift crypto this month is the same engine showing cracks. Deeper breakdowns in that trade could erode the bid bitcoin has leaned on, though for now the selling has stayed inside the stock.
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