Benzinga - Billionaire Elon Musk expressed surprise after Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood pointed out that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) is "backed by the largest computer network" in the world.
What Happened: Wood voiced her support for Bitcoin despite a recent dip in the king of cryptocurrency.
See Also: Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest Boosts Portfolio With 1% Of Its Own Bitcoin Spot ETF
Reposting an analysis by Yassine Elmandjra, the Director of Digital Assets at Ark Investment Management, Wood underlined that Bitcoin's computer network is several times larger than the combined network of the biggest players in the cloud computing space. This includes Amazon.com Inc., Microsoft Corp., and Alphabet Inc.'s Google.
This left Musk impressed, who went "Wow."
Wow— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2024
According to Elmandjra, Bitcoin hash rate hit an all-time high of 500 exahashes per second this month.
Bitcoin's hash rate hit an all time high 500 exahashes/s this month.To highlight the enormity of this number:
– For every star in our galaxy, the Bitcoin network is calculating 5 billion computations per second.
– It would take ~2000 years for the entire global population,… pic.twitter.com/Ki4jOxmliO
— Yassine Elmandjra (@yassineARK) January 19, 2024
Why It Matters: Wood's argument about Bitcoin being secure was echoed by others, too.
Michael Saylor, co-founder and chairman of MicroStrategy, said, "Bitcoin is a reality. It's a technological marvel, and people need to start recognizing that it's here to stay."
#Bitcoin is a reality. It's a technological marvel, and people need to start recognizing that it's here to stay. pic.twitter.com/38xywL3U71— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) January 2, 2024
Wood also slammed JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon for his Bitcoin cynicism – he called the king of cryptocurrency a "pet rock" during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"Data flies in the face of Jamie’s description."
Wood also holds a notable Bitcoin position – she announced that 1% of Ark Next Generation Internet ETF's (NYSE:ARKW) funds are invested in the Ark 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF (BATS:ARKB).
Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $41,546, up 1.10% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.
Read Next: Betting On Bitcoin: SEC Opens Floor For Opinions On BlackRock ETF Options
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