Ark Invest drops PayPal for CashApp 1

TL; DR Breakdown

• Ark Invest chooses CashApp ahead of PayPal
• The firm explains its reasons for picking CashApp
• Cathie Wood drums support for Bitcoin

Ark Invest will no longer be holding on to its PayPal investments after a statement from the founder, Cathie Wood, confirmed the rumours. According to the statement, the firm will be holding firmly onto its CashApp investment long-term. One of the reasons why the Ark Invest founder sees a future with CashApp is the integration of the Lightning Network in the app.

Ark Invest explains conditions for picking CashApp

Cathie Wood gave a detailed insight into why Ark Invest is making a move at the recently concluded Bitcoin summit. The summit has been ongoing for days now, saw a curtain close on Saturday. The LN that CashApp uses is a second layer solution that enables cheaper and faster transactions than the first layer. PayPal’s payment app Venmo is a direct rival to Jack Dorsey owned Square, the owner of CashApp.

Wood mentioned that her decision to go with CashApp stems from how the developers integrated crypto wallets into the app. She noted that even though Venmo is now leaning towards Bitcoin in recent days, it will continue to work in the shadows of CashApp. Wood said that the company consistently grades where their investments go at all times, and during a recent consultation with the board, they all decided it was best they invest with Block.

Wood continued to support Bitcoin

The Ark Invest founder also mentioned that another factor that put CashApp at the top of their list was the natural inflow of users that the app is seeing. She mentioned that that factor which was not the same as its rival, Venmo, was also integral in the choice. Finally, Wood said she believes that the crypto market has been given a massive boost by the number of users who have stormed into the market in the last few years.

She mentioned that opposed to the belief that institutional investors are bringing in big money, which is the bedrock, retail users are the real movers and shakers of the market. However, Venmo is ahead of CashApp regarding the number of users and but behind profits, which was mentioned by the founder earlier. A sneak peek into the two companies shows that Venmo has about 70 million customers compared to CashApp, which stands at over 40 million. In total profit generated in 2021, CashApp is ahead at $2.03 billion compared to Venmo’s $850 million.

As evidenced here, Ark Invest could have picked one form over the other regarding their earning ability in the last year. CashApp is also trying to penetrate the market after a recent announcement stating that US users can now purchase Bitcoin directly from the application. Wood continues to fan the gospel of Bitcoin, with the Ark Invest founder still staking a claim for the asset reaching $1 million by 2030.