A renowned crypto investor, Cathie Woods, reassured all other Bitcoin investors by stating that in her opinion, it is simply not possible to ban Bitcoin and that the crypto market is not going anywhere. Her comments came in the midst of a harsh regulatory climate that appears to be surrounding cryptocurrencies for now. These digital currencies have come under heavy scrutiny in Europe, China, and the United States. As a matter of fact, it is regarded as one of the main causes behind the crypto market crash that has occurred in recent weeks. However, Cathie Woods of Ark Invest, the exchange-traded fund manager and issuer, said that virtual currencies will continue their growth and it wouldn’t be possible to shut them down.
The founder of Ark Investment Management LLC spoke during the CoinDesk Consensus 2021 conference. She stated that there would be changes in the regulatory environment relating to cryptocurrencies because people will want to take advantage of the innovations offered by the sector. The recent crash that occurred in the crypto market was after a crackdown by regulators in China on crypto mining activities. This crackdown came after there were increasing concerns about the use of harmful coal for mining Bitcoin.
Earlier, Elon Musk had also announced that Tesla, the electric car manufacturer, would not be accepting payments in the form of Bitcoin due to environmental concerns. Wood also went on to say that the number of institutions buying Bitcoin had been affected because of the impacts of Bitcoin mining on the environment. Regardless, she was optimistic that the token’s value would continue to increase in the long run. The impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment has given rise to concerns about the viability of using this cryptocurrency as a means of exchange or a store of value.
Elon Musk has been doing some research into figuring out how Bitcoin mining’s environmental impacts can be curbed. The CEO of Tesla conducted a meeting with North American miners to discuss how they could tap into the renewable energy sector. However, this plan would actualize in a number of years. In the meanwhile, the parties represented at this meeting formed the Bitcoin Mining Council, and subsequently, others also joined, such as the Argo Blockchain. All of them have made a commitment to audit the energy usage. Together with Square, Ark Investment had published a white paper some time back, which said that the renewable energy sector could be incentivized with cryptocurrency mining.
Wood also analyzed how the volatility in the stock market had been impacted through capital gains taxes. She believes that the market volatility has increased significantly due to the tax regime. But, high levels of resilience were also seen during the crypto market crash, with Bitcoin probably going to be rangebound near the mid $30,000s. Furthermore, there are also some institutional investors who have been buying the dip because they believe that Bitcoin will move up once more and they will be able to make a profit in the long run.