Initially hesitant about Bitcoin as currency on Mars due to transaction settlement times, Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder, reconsidered the idea during a discussion with ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.
Specifically, in a Space on X (formerly Twitter) titled “ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) Approved,” Musk initially shot down using Bitcoin as a currency on Mars, as for the significant transactions’ time.
”It would make sense to use some kind of cryptocurrency on Mars; you couldn’t use Bitcoin because the reconciliation is too long.”
Elon answers what money he would use on Mars: pic.twitter.com/VJQeIM0qqJ
— Sam Callahan (@samcallah) January 11, 2024
However, after verbally brainstorming by himself, Musk changed his initial thoughts and concluded that it might actually be practical given Earth is only eight light minutes from the Sun, while Mars is approximately 12 light minutes.
“Perhaps you can use Bitcoin to some degree, but it would be difficult to use it a lot on Mars,” he stated, adding the potential need for a localised network on the planet:
“Mars can be like twenty light minutes away. So, it is not easy, there would have to be a localized thing on Mars.”
Musk also agreed with Bitcoin core developer Matt Corallo that Bitcoin’s slow transaction speed could be solved by deploying a localised Lightning Network.
Currently, to secure transactions, Bitcoin may take up to one hour as its blockchain assembles them into 10-minute blocks, requiring confirmation of six blocks before the transaction is finalised. Nevertheless, Blockstream CEO Adam Back was more optimistic about the idea, even with or without a localised Lightning Network in Bitcoin’s current form.
In April 2023, Glassnode reported that the Bitcoin Lightning Network offers significantly lower transaction costs compared to traditional payments. The expense of sending value through the Lightning Network is just 0.0029%, making it roughly 1,000 times more economical than Mastercard or Visa processors. Meanwhile, there are speculations about Elon Musk integrating cryptocurrencies into X, his evolving “everything app,” based on reports from January 2023 suggesting that the payments feature could support cryptocurrencies if the opportunity arises. However, on August 5, 2023, Musk responded on X, asserting that he will never launch a cryptocurrency token on the platform.