Imagine bringing back vast quantities of platinum, gold, and rare metals — enough to fund every American’s wildest dreams, or perhaps collapse the global economy overnight. This is the high-stakes gamble NASA and a wave of innovative US startups are taking as they chase the untapped riches of asteroids.

As NASA’s Psyche probe speeds toward its 2029 rendezvous with the metallic asteroid of the same name, US startups are racing to turn celestial rocks into a viable business — a venture that could reshape global supply chains for critical minerals. Yet the risks are enormous, including market disruptions reminiscent of historic commodity boom-and-bust cycles.

Launched in October 2023 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, the Psyche probe is on track to enter orbit around asteroid 16 Psyche by late July 2029, where it will spend two years mapping its composition.

The mission, led by Arizona State University’s Lindy Elkins-Tanton, seeks to study what scientists believe is the exposed core of an ancient protoplanet, rich in iron, nickel, and other metals potentially worth “quadrillions of dollars” — or “15 zeros,” as Elkins-Tanton described in a recent Space interview.

The economic allure is clear: the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter holds enormous deposits of platinum for catalysts, cobalt for batteries, iron for steelmaking, and gold for electronics. NASA estimates that mining just 10 such asteroids could generate the equivalent of $100 million for every person on Earth — a total of $1.5 trillion.

But commercial viability hinges on carefully managed extraction to avoid flooding markets. Oversupplying rare metals — critical for iPhones, EVs, and defense technology — could send prices crashing, just as oil gluts have in the past, crippling terrestrial miners and suppliers.

These risks do not deter companies like California-based TransAstra, which is developing optical mining technology using concentrated solar power to process water-rich asteroids. The technique involves wrapping targets in polyamide sacks and vaporizing volatile materials to extract pure metals. CEO Joel Sercel likens it to “using the sun as a welding torch,” as reported by Space.

The company narrowly missed a live test last fall with the small near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5, which orbited nearby for nearly two months. Such opportunities may arise annually or once a decade, according to Rob Hoyt, former co-founder of Tethers Unlimited. Inspired by NASA consulting and science fiction writer R. L. Forward, that company once proposed using nets and tethers to capture asteroids and tow them into Earth orbit for automated dismantling, according to Space.

This new generation of startups is the first to seriously attempt space mining.

Earlier efforts, like Planetary Resources — founded in 2012 with backing from Hollywood director James Cameron, Google executives Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, and Virgin’s Richard Branson — invested millions into probes to search for water and metals. But funding challenges forced restructuring, even if the company sowed the seeds of today’s asteroid mining ambitions.

Most US stock indexes rose on Friday after economic data showed an inflation reading in line with expectations.

According to data released today, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index — which excludes food and energy — held steady at 2.9% year-on-year in August, slightly below expectations of a 3% increase.

Separately, US President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on branded and patented drugs starting October 1, unless manufacturers build production facilities in the United States.

In trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3% (135 points) to 46,082 by 15:59 GMT, the broad-based S&P 500 added 0.1% (8 points) to 6,613, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 0.2% (48 points) to 22,336.

Copper prices fell on Friday as markets assessed Chinese government measures to regulate the country’s copper smelting industry, despite a weaker US dollar against most major currencies.

A Chinese state-run media outlet reported on Thursday that the world’s largest copper smelting nation is considering tighter oversight of smelting capacity expansions, at a time when record-low treatment charges have severely squeezed company profits.

Chen Xuexun, vice chairman of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, said during a Wednesday meeting that falling treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs) were the industry’s “most prominent” problem.

He added that the fees miners pay smelters for processing have been hurt by what in China is called “involution-style competition” — a race so intense it becomes self-destructive. This comes after a massive expansion in smelting capacity outpaced mined ore supply, tightening concentrate availability.

Chen said: “Involution-style competition has damaged the interests of the industry and the country, so copper companies must firmly oppose it. The association has proposed specific measures to strictly control the expansion of smelting capacity.”

China’s political leaders announced in early July that they would act against “disorderly price competition,” raising hopes in the sector for supply-side reforms in industries suffering from overcapacity. That move pushed up prices of commodities such as lithium and coal that month.

However, copper prices in July barely moved, even as output dropped 2.5% from June’s record levels.

Treatment charges fell to all-time lows, to the point that some Chinese smelters agreed to process copper for Chilean miner Antofagasta with no fees under a long-term contract. Spot charges have remained negative since last December.

Risks facing Chinese smelters — also the world’s biggest copper consumers — have increased further after Freeport-McMoRan cut its copper production outlook in Indonesia, which analysts said helped push copper prices higher.

Three-month benchmark copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.02% to $10,442 per metric ton by 10:09 GMT on Thursday, after earlier hitting a 15-month high.

Wednesday’s industry meeting was attended by representatives of China’s major copper smelters, including Jinchuan Group, Jiangxi Copper, Tongling Nonferrous, China Copper, Daye Nonferrous, China Minmetals, and Zijin Mining, according to the state-backed China Nonferrous Metals News.

Meanwhile, the US dollar index fell 0.4% to 98.1 by 15:51 GMT, after hitting a high of 98.5 and a low of 98.1.

In trading, December copper futures fell 0.7% to $4.72 per pound by 15:57 GMT.

Bitcoin fell below $110,000 on Friday, heading for a sharp weekly loss as the market braced for the expiration of nearly $22 billion in crypto options, while investors remained cautious ahead of key US inflation data.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped 1.8% to trade at $109,552.6 by 02:20 AM ET (06:20 GMT), after earlier slipping below $109,000 — its lowest level in six weeks.

Bitcoin is on track for a weekly decline of more than 5%, with other altcoins also poised for heavy weekly losses.

Bitcoin falls ahead of massive options expiry

The expiry of options contracts scheduled for 08:00 GMT on Friday marks the end of the third quarter, placing downward pressure on Bitcoin and other digital assets.

According to derivatives exchange Deribit, more than $17 billion worth of Bitcoin options were set to expire, with a large portion of open interest concentrated in bullish contracts.

Reports indicate that such large expirations can exacerbate price volatility, especially if key support levels fail to hold.

Earlier in the week, Bitcoin’s slide was attributed to a wave of liquidations in derivatives markets, which erased nearly $1.5 billion from crypto markets. Reports noted that selling intensified as traders maintained directional bets through options contracts that benefit from sharp moves, underscoring the market’s ongoing volatility.

Fed outlook in focus; PCE inflation data awaited

Meanwhile, recent US economic data reduced expectations for aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts.

Second-quarter GDP growth was revised up to an annualized 3.8% on Thursday, fueling speculation that the central bank may adopt a more cautious stance toward monetary easing.

Investors now await the release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, for additional signals on monetary policy direction.

TeraWulf plans $3 billion data center expansion

TeraWulf Inc. (NASDAQ: WULF) plans to raise about $3 billion to finance data center expansion through a financing structure backed by Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), CFO Patrick Flury told Bloomberg.

The Bloomberg report added that Morgan Stanley is arranging the potential deal for TeraWulf, noting it could be executed via high-yield bond markets or leveraged loans.