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In a defensive interview, Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood has stood by her thesis that Bitcoin will hit $500,000 by 2030.
Wood is the forward-thinking head of Ark Invests and irs flagship tech-oriented ARKK ETF. Notorious for betting big on the latest and greatest in biotechnology.
In 2020, Wood made headlines with an infamous prediction that Bitcoin (BTC) would hit $500k by 2030.
And in November 2022, she doubled-down when it emerged the flagship Ark Innovation ETF invested a further $62.7m into the crypto space.
The capital was deployed to acquire further shares in Coinbase, Silvergate, and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. A brave move a week after the collapse of behemoth FTX.
In 2020, the ARKK ETF underwent a sensational 150% rally. But market confidence in the ETF saw witness to a 59% fall in 2022 (worse than the S&P500).
$500K is a Bearish prediction for BTC in 2030
In the aftermath of a difficult year for crypto, Wood jumped onto Andrew Sorkin’s CNBC Squawk Box to defend the bold thesis.
When asked whether Ark Innovation stood by her 2020 prediction:
“Yes – we’re a little higher than that in our bearish case for 2030
“And in our bullish case much higher,” she added.
An impressive claim in the midst of a long crypto winter that has seen BTC prices drop as low as $13,350 this year – after FTX’s collapse.
Speaking on Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) the crypto evangelist explained the FTX saga has forced a cleanout in the space.
“[SBF] didn’t like Bitcoin at all, and he didn’t like it because of its decentralization and transparency, but which companies went under?”, Wood questioned.
“They were the highly centralized, non-transparent, opaque companies – so FTX, Celsius, 3 Arrows Capital (3AC),
“If you look at what happened to Bitcoin and Ethereum [the networks], they didn’t skip a beat, all transactions were completed, all smart contracts opened and closed.”
The high-flying stock-picker went on to elaborate on what this meant for the industry.
“After the crypto fallout this year, the collapse of so many companies, this idea of transparency and decentralization is taking hold,” she added.
Transparency and decentralization seem to be a key part of the Ark Innovation ETF. When Ark’s Research Director responded to the FTX bankruptcy in November, he raised the same argument.
“Conviction in decentralized and transparent public blockchains is as strong as ever,” said Frank Downing.