Starship

Mars

Chun Wang, co-founder of Bitcoin mining pool F2Pool, has purchased seats on two SpaceX missions. One is a weeklong flight around the Moon. The other is the first planned crewed mission to Mars.
SpaceX announced the Mars mission on May 22, 2026. The plan is a two-year journey flying past Mars and returning to Earth. Wang is the first known private buyer of a seat on this mission.
Wang explained his reasoning directly. He is confident governments will reach the Moon regardless, driven by US-China competition. Mars is a different story — he doubts it happens within his lifetime without private pressure.
"I hope that by purchasing a flyby mission to Mars, SpaceX will have another reason not to forget about Mars," Wang posted on X. He framed the purchase as accountability, not tourism. His stated goal is keeping Mars on SpaceX's active agenda.
Who Is Chun Wang
Wang is a Chinese-born citizen of Malta. He co-founded F2Pool in Beijing in 2013, making it one of China's first Bitcoin mining pools. It remains one of the oldest continuously operating pools in the world.
F2Pool currently holds about 11.85% of Bitcoin's network hashrate, per mempool.space. That places it third globally, behind Foundry USA at roughly 30% and AntPool. The pool supports over 40 cryptocurrencies and has paid out more than $3 billion to miners over its history.
Wang is not new to private space travel. In April 2025, he bankrolled and commanded the "Fram2" mission for SpaceX. That mission flew over both of Earth's poles — a first in crewed spaceflight. The four-person crew conducted experiments including taking an X-ray in space and growing mushrooms aboard the capsule.
How Bitcoin Mining Built the Wealth for This
F2Pool's founding came at a pivotal moment. Bitcoin mining in 2013 was transitioning from hobbyist GPU rigs to organized industrial pools. Wang and co-founder Discus Fish positioned F2Pool early in that shift.
Mining pools work by combining the computational power of many miners. Rewards are split proportionally when the pool finds a block. This model replaced the lottery-style solo mining that dominated Bitcoin's earliest years.
F2Pool grew through China's mining boom of the mid-2010s. China at its peak controlled over 65% of Bitcoin's global hashrate, and F2Pool was a central player. The 2021 Chinese mining ban disrupted that landscape. Hashrate migrated to the United States, Kazakhstan, and elsewhere. Foundry USA, backed by Digital Currency Group, took the global lead it still holds today.
F2Pool adapted. It maintained its position internationally while Chinese miners rebuilt operations abroad. Its 11.85% share in 2026 reflects that durability, though it has ceded top-pool status to American and Chinese competitors with stronger institutional backing.
The Broader Pattern of Crypto-Funded Space Ambitions
Wang joins a recognizable group. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos funds Blue Origin. Richard Branson co-founded Virgin Galactic. Jared Isaacman, who built Shift4 Payments, commanded the Polaris Dawn mission in 2024 and later became NASA Administrator. Private capital has become a structural part of modern spaceflight.
The SpaceX model in particular depends on commercial customers. Starship development costs are enormous. Selling seats generates revenue and public attention. Wang's purchase serves both purposes for SpaceX.
SpaceX expects cargo Starship flights to Mars to begin no earlier than 2028. The long-term plan involves establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars, which the company estimates requires over one million people and millions of tons of cargo. The crewed flyby Wang is part of comes before permanent settlement — it is exploratory by design.
What This Does and Does Not Mean
Wang's purchase carries real symbolic weight. A Bitcoin entrepreneur buying into the first Mars mission connects two industries built on the idea that existing institutions move too slowly. Both Bitcoin and commercial spaceflight emerged from distrust of centralized gatekeepers.
The practical risks are substantial. A two-year mission beyond the Moon and back is unlike any crewed flight attempted. Radiation exposure, life support, and emergency abort options are all harder problems at interplanetary distances. SpaceX has not yet completed an uncrewed Mars mission. The timeline from announcement to launch remains undefined.
Wang acknowledged the uncertainty. His argument is not that Mars is safe or certain. It is that someone has to push the timeline forward, and private investment creates a financial incentive for SpaceX to prioritize it.
F2Pool's current position adds context. Wang is not an active day-to-day operator of the pool at this stage. His focus has shifted toward public endeavors — space missions, writing, advocacy. The pool itself runs under established management. His wealth from over a decade in Bitcoin mining is now funding ambitions well outside the blockchain industry.
The Mars mission has no confirmed launch date. The lunar flight, which comes first, is also unscheduled publicly. What is confirmed is that Wang paid for both seats, and SpaceX has acknowledged him as a mission participant.
For the Bitcoin community, the story is a data point on where early mining wealth has traveled. F2Pool helped build the infrastructure that processes a significant share of every Bitcoin block mined today. Its founder is now planning to fly past another planet.

F2Pool Founder Chun Wang Buys a Seat on SpaceX's First Mars Mission

BTC Peers

Other articles published on May 25, 2026

Join our free newsletter for daily crypto updates!