ARK CEO Cathie Wood Says Bitcoin Could Multiply 15x — and She’s Not Alone

• Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Invest, recently expressed her confidence that Bitcoin could surge as much as 15-fold over the next five years, according to a recent interview.
• ARK’s CEO notes BTC’s current trend vs. gold retains a bullish “risk-on” flavor, signaling investor confidence in its long-term prospects.

Recently, on the popular podcast The Diary of a CEO, hosted and produced by British entrepreneur and investor Steven Bartlett, Cathie Wood opened up about her journey with Bitcoin. When Steven asked her about her very first Bitcoin investment, Cathie said, “I think it was the summer of 2015. We bought in at about $250. And today? Bitcoin is hovering around $104,000. So yeah, we definitely got in pretty early, and we knew right away that this was something big.”

Cathie went on to talk about how Bitcoin’s (BTC) market behavior compares to gold. She pointed out that it still carries a strong bullish, “risk-on” vibe, which shows that more and more investors are confident about Bitcoin’s future as a game-changing financial asset. She confidently laid out her prediction: “Right now, Bitcoin’s trading between $100,000 and $105,000. Our target for 2030? $1.5 million.”

Investing in Bitcoin at $250

She explained how the idea of Bitcoin really took hold at Ark Invest thanks to their first Bitcoin analyst, Chris Burdinski. He wrote the initial research paper that caught her attention and brought valuable economic insights that deepened their understanding of Bitcoin’s potential. Chris described it as the kind of opportunity he had been waiting for ever since the US closed the gold window in 1971, a chance to create a rules-based global monetary system, similar to the Bretton Woods agreement, but this time with Bitcoin stepping in as the new standard.

Cathie added, “Our price target has grown because Bitcoin isn’t just a potential global monetary system anymore, it’s becoming an entirely new asset class, which is huge.” Steven asked for a bit more clarity: “When you say ‘new asset class,’ do you mean a completely new category of investment, like funding companies?”

She answered, explaining that asset classes are broad categories like stocks, bonds, commodities, or real estate, but Bitcoin represents something entirely different. She pointed out that the last time the world saw a truly new asset class was back in the 1600s with the emergence of equities, highlighting just how rare Bitcoin’s rise really is.

The Building Blocks of Ark’s Bitcoin Thesis

Wood outlined three key pillars that form the foundation of Ark Invest’s bullish Bitcoin thesis. First, institutional adoption is just getting started, with more companies beginning to allocate parts of their portfolios to Bitcoin, validating its status as a serious asset class. For example, sixteen companies purchased Bitcoin just last week, including MicroStrategy, which holds over 580,000 BTC valued at $61.44 billion and recently bought an additional 705 BTC for $75 million.

Second, Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as “digital gold” and a modern store of value, especially among younger generations who feel more comfortable with digital assets than traditional gold. A recent survey that CNF reported on showed us that Gen Z is favoring cryptocurrency over conventional retirement plans. Third, Bitcoin’s role in emerging markets is critical but often overlooked; in countries facing unstable fiscal and monetary policies, economic volatility, and currency devaluation, Bitcoin and stablecoins backed by US Treasuries provide an alternative form of financial insurance.

Currently, Bitcoin’s price hovers around $107,600, up nearly 5% over the past week and 1.86% in the last 24 hours. Trading activity is booming, with total trading volume rising by 56.49% to $70.67 billion. Open interest, the total outstanding contracts, has increased by 4.80%, reaching $74.95 billion, while options volume has surged 161.50% to a total of $2.48 billion.

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