Chun Wang, co-founder of Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, revealed on X that he has "bought" a seat on SpaceX's first Starship interplanetary flyby mission. The two-year journey will fly past the moon's orbit, skim Mars, and return to Earth. He also booked a separate commercial lunar orbital flight ticket.
"I have no confidence that Mars will be reached in my lifetime, so I decided to do something," Wang wrote. The financial terms were not disclosed, but industry estimates suggest a Starship Mars flyby seat could cost tens of millions of dollars.
"Don't Leave Mars for the Next Generation"
In a lengthy post, Wang explained his motivation: lunar exploration will eventually happen due to US-China competition, but Mars is different. SpaceX's official timeline shows cargo Starship flights to Mars won't launch until after 2028, and building a self-sustaining city would require 1 million people and millions of tons of supplies — a distant dream. "By buying this Mars flyby mission, I want to give SpaceX one more reason not to forget Mars," he said.
This isn't Wang's first space venture. In April 2025, he funded and commanded the Fram2 mission, which completed the first crewed polar orbital flight. The four-person crew conducted X-ray imaging and mushroom cultivation experiments in orbit.
From Mining Pool to Starship: Crypto Wealth Goes to Space
Wang's trajectory mirrors the growing influence of crypto wealth on space exploration. He founded F2Pool in China in 2013, now the world's third-largest mining pool with over 11.85% market share. His identity — born in China, based in Malta — makes him a standout in a Western-dominated space race. While Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, and Jared Isaacman's Polaris program also draw on private capital, Wang's Asian roots and crypto fortune offer a distinct narrative: decentralized wealth fueling deep-space ambitions.
SpaceX hasn't announced a launch date for the Mars flyby, but Wang said he's ready to wait "years or even longer." For the man who started with a Bitcoin mining pool, space is no longer a dream — it's a ticket he paid for.