Shutting down Bitcoin is impossible, Ark Investment founder says

While Bitcoin (BTC) increasingly falls under the scrutiny of regulators worldwide, Ark Investment founder and CEO Cathie Wood is confident that regulators will not be able to shut down the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Wood said that Bitcoin is “already on its way and it’ll be impossible to shut it down,” Bloomberg reports Thursday. Global regulators “will be a little more friendly over time” to cryptocurrencies due to the fear of missing out on opportunities provided by the industry, she said at Coindesk’s Consensus 2021 conference.

The recent regulatory pushback against Bitcoin in Europe, the United States and China contributed to a slump in Bitcoin markets, but the primary trigger for institutions pausing Bitcoin purchases were the mining-related environmental concerns escalated by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, she said.

Earlier this month, Musk hinted that he may dump Tesla’s $1.5 billion BTC holdings due to “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal.”

“Half of the solution is understanding the problem,” Wood said, noting that miners in North America are willing to prioritize renewable sources of energy for Bitcoin mining. This will “bring that topic into stark relief, and will encourage an acceleration in the adoption of renewables beyond which otherwise would have taken the place,” she said. Previously, an Ark Investment report stressed that Bitcoin mining can drive investment in solar power and boost renewable energy.

Wood's comments come as Bitcoin failed to hold above $40,000 after rebounding to the price mark on Wednesday. At publishing time, Bitcoin is trading at $36,000, down over 8% on the day.