Elon Musk Reacts to Bitcoin Hashrate Achieving All-Time High

Bitcoin (BTC) achieved a jaw-dropping feat as its hash rate surged to 500 exahashes per second, stirring a reaction from Tesla founder Elon Musk.

The development was shared in a tweet today by Yassine Elmandjra, the Director of Digital Assets at leading asset management firm Ark Invest.

According to Elmandjra, Bitcoin’s hash rate reached a milestone of 500 exahashes per second this month, marking an all-time high for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Magnitude of Bitcoin’s New Feat

To shed further light on the latest milestone, the Ark Invest official illustrated the magnitude of Bitcoin’s latest feat by comparing the data with relatable terms.

Elmandjra pointed out that the Bitcoin network now has the capacity to process five billion computations per star in the galaxy.

This metric represents an astronomical quantity of computational prowess in crypto mining. For context, one exahash equates to one quintillion hashes. This makes 500 exahashes up to 500 quintillion hashes.

To match Bitcoin’s 500 exahashes, Elmandjra stated that it would take the entire global population 2,000 years for each individual to contribute one hash on a per-second basis.

Furthermore, he illustrated that the Bitcoin network can “perform 67 times more hashes per second than there are grains of sand on earth.”

Additionally, Elmandjra said the recent feat suggests that the Bitcoin network is 500 times faster than a supercomputer.

Elon Musk Stunned

Elmandjra’s illustration of Bitcoin’s latest milestone stirred reactions among prominent crypto enthusiasts, including Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk.

Reacting, Musk was astonished by Bitcoin’s latest milestone, as well as Elmandjra’s illustration.

Wow

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2024

Musk Supporting Bitcoin

While Musk’s enthusiasm for Dogecoin is well documented, the American businessman also has a significant interest in Bitcoin.

In 2021, Musk publicly declared his support for Bitcoin in February 2021 and purchased $1.5 billion worth of the asset. Musk’s automobile company, Tesla, also integrated Bitcoin as a payment method for its electric vehicles, allowing people to purchase Tesla cars with BTC in March 2021.

Although Tesla halted Bitcoin payments a few months later due to environmental concerns, the American electric car company still holds 10,725 BTC worth $443.69 million.

BTC Plunges 2.6% in 24 Hours

While Bitcoin’s hash rate recently achieved a significant milestone, the price of the cryptocurrency has plunged over 2% in the past day.

Bitcoin was down 2.6% in 24 hours to $41,370 at press time. The top asset is also down 40.2% from its all-time high of $69,044, which was recorded on November 10, 2021.