This week, three of the most influential forces within the crypto-sphere discussed all things Bitcoin during the B-Word Conference hosted on YouTube. The Main Event of the daylong cryptocurrency symposium was a 70-minute remote panel discussion that featured ARK Invest CEO and founder Cathie Wood; CEO of Twitter and payment app Square, Jack Dorsey; and CEO of Tesla/SpaceX/SpaceLink, Elon Musk. The discussion was moderated by Square executive, Steve Lee.
The panel covered a lot of topics ranging from Bitcoin scalability; level 2 solutions; El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as legal tender; Bitcoin mining; Tesla and SpaceX stakes in Bitcoin; ESG concerns; as well as Twitter and Tesla agreeing to soon accept BTC as payment for electric cars and Twitter ads respectively.
The most interesting part of the discussion was when moderator Lee asked each panelist, “What is your hope for Bitcoin and how can it bank the world?” Their responses in the order they were given follow:
Sponsored
Elon Musk, Tesla/SpaceX/SpaceLink
“My hope for crypto in general is that it can improve the efficiency of the information system we call money. So if the core efficiency of money is improved, and money has less error – like government interference or fraud or anything like that – that will lead to a better standard of living and more power to the individual, which I very much agree with.” Cathie Wood, ARK Invest
“I’m looking for this rules-based monetary policymaking lives better around the world. But I’m also looking at the technology itself and the convergence between blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to change the world in ways that we can’t even imagine right now. Solving more problems but creating more opportunities as well, which is the history of technology and disruptive innovation.”Jack Dorsey, Twitter/Square
“My hope is that it creates world peace or helps create world peace. Elon said it earlier, governments have ‘monopolies of violence and the individual doesn’t have power. The amount of cost and destruction that comes from our monetary system today is real. It takes away attention from bigger problems… that affect every single person on this planet. It may sound ridiculous, but you fix that foundational level [monetary system] and everything above it moves in a dramatic way. It’s going to be long-term, but my hope is definitely peace.”It will be interesting to see how these movers, shakers, and market makers help to transform their aspirational rhetoric regarding crypto into reality for virtual currencies, tokens, and blockchain projects.
On The Flipside
- It’s worth noting that the three panelists represented several billion dollars worth of Bitcoin holdings – it’s not clear if this B-Word Conference was an effort to calm investors or dispel FUD.
- Panel participants maintained decorum and professionalism. At times both Wood and Dorsey seemed a bit deferential to Musk, offering only glancing blows about Musk’s eco-criticism of Bitcoin mining.
- When Wood asked Musk if he read the co-sponsored report by ARK Invest and Square on BTC’s eco-friendly mining practices, Musk was dismissive and re-directed the conversation.
- Musk claimed that he personally owns significantly more Bitcoin, than Ethereum, or Dogecoin but noted that he does hold all three. He said when Bitcoin drops, he loses money saying, “I certainly pump but I don’t dump” – which seems inconsistent with his history of cryptic tweets regarding various cryptocurrencies.
