Elon Musk, the most well-known Silicon Valley guru, took to the New York-based ARK Invest’s “FYI” Podcast to touch on Tesla’s plans, autonomy, other innovations, such as crypto. Per The Block, who compiled his comments regarding cryptocurrencies, Musk made his comments with explicitly bullish tones.
After discussing Tesla’s most recent advancements, the hosts of the podcast, the CEO and an analyst at ARK, a disruptive innovation-centric investment group, took a brief aside. They asked Musk if he agrees with Dorsey’s recent comments on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies at large. Interestingly, Musk responded with an answer, albeit somewhat cursory.
We had @elonmusk on the latest episode of @ARKInvest's podcast!
He had a few things to say about Bitcoin.
"Paper money is going away and cryptocurrency is a far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper." – Elon Muskhttps://t.co/U5qOnM7nBo
— Yassine Elmandjra (@yassineARK) February 19, 2019
He tacitly agreed, noting that the “Bitcoin structure was (is) quite brilliant,” adding that Ethereum and “maybe some of the others” have merit too. Musk did admit that he isn’t too enamored with Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, noting that it is energy intensive.
Yet, he explained that fundamentally, crypto assets are great as they bypass currency controls, especially in nations embroiled in financial and political turmoil, like Venezuela. He added that cryptocurrencies are also a “far better way to transfer value than pieces of paper,” subsequently quipping that he’s sure of this “without a doubt.”
In spite of all this, he made it clear that Tesla isn’t going to foray into the crypto space in any capacity, noting that it would be a good use of his firm’s resources to prop up an offering.
Musk’s abrash comments quickly elicited responses from each and every corner of the crypto space. Matt Odell, a long-time pro-Bitcoin coder and industry personality, joked that the comments “confirmed” his bias that cryptocurrencies could oust banknotes. Changpeng “CZ” Zhao of Binance noted that eventually, “[Musk] will join the brotherhood,” adding that he is unequivocally sure that the businessman will take up a crypto mantle. CZ notably called on the Tesla founder to take up the Lightning Network Trust Chain torch last week, just days after Twitter’s Dorsey openly lauded Bitcoin in dozens of tweets.
Crypto Is Better Than Banknotes?
While Musk made notable acknowledgments in his brief appearance on ARK’s “FYI,” what stood out to many crypto investors was his thoughts on the dichotomy between banknotes & physical cash, and crypto assets, not centralized e-money. For a brief recap, Musk simply stated that he is unequivocally sure that crypto, whether it be Bitcoin, Ethereum, or otherwise, is a “far better” medium of exchange than pieces of paper. Shocking, right?
