Engineers at the headquarters of aerospace startup Vast in Long Beach, California.

Engineers at the headquarters of aerospace startup Vast in Long Beach, California.

Photographer: Balazs Gardi for Bloomberg Businessweek
Businessweek
The Big Take

One Man’s Crypto Windfall Is Funding a $1 Billion Space Station Dream

Crafting and launching a space station that can keep humans alive comfortably in orbit is no easy feat.

By and
Updated on
This article is part of the April 1, 2025 issue of businessweek.
Chevron Right

Jed McCaleb made a fortune in cryptocurrency. Now he’s prepared to lose a big chunk of it in space.

The billionaire who was behind the infamous Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange and the cryptocurrency XRP is the sole financial backer of a wildly ambitious effort to build the world’s first commercial space station and send it into orbit.

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