Cathie Wood, the founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest, an investment management firm based in St. Petersburg, Florida, says Bitcoin is “digital gold” and calls it a deflation hedge. Cathie Wood net worth has been strongly affected by the belief she has in Bitcoin.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s Merryn Talks Money podcast, Cathie Wood was asked which asset she would choose to safeguard her money from the upcoming possible deflation in the next decade. The executive said that she would always support Bitcoin over gold or cash, adding that she would consider holding it for the next ten years.
Cathie Wood’s Bitcoin sentiment remains unchanged as the executive has been a strong supporter of Bitcoin and has heavily invested in the digital asset.
Cathie Wood Net Worth
Notably, being a major bitcoin investor, this bullish approach has clearly affected her net worth. She openly stated that she purchased $100,000 worth of bitcoin in 2015, when it was worth around $250. This loosely translates to ownership of 400 BTC, worth more than $13 million at today’s price.
As of June 2022, Forbes estimated Cathie Wood’s net worth to be $140 million, a significant decline from her $400 million valuation in 2021. However, multiple media outlets estimate Cathie Wood’s net worth in the range of $250 million to $300 million, citing several factors.
Although she might have lost a rather sizeable portion of her capital in stocks investments in the recent years, her bitcoin investment has returned an astonishing 14,000% profit.
Interestingly, ARK Invest founder’s financial success is closely tied to the performance of the company and her early investments in advanced technologies like Bitcoin. Despite fluctuations in Wood’s net worth over the years, she remains a forward-thinking investment manager with a substantial presence in the world of finance.
Cathie Wood Bitcoin Sentiment: “Digital Gold”
Cathie Wood says Bitcoin is “digital gold” and expects a convergence between AI and Bitcoin. She believes that this convergence will “enable microtasks globally and a division of labor in a way we can’t even imagine now.” She comments on the inflation risks by stating:
“Bitcoin, hands down. Bitcoin is a hedge against both inflation and deflation because there’s no counterparty risk, and institutions are barely involved.”
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has made some bullish predictions regarding the price of bitcoin in the past few months. The executive believes that BTC could hit $1.48 million by 2030 in the bull case. In the base case, she expects a price of $682,800 by the same year. The investment management firm stated that the digital asset’s fundamentals remain bullish despite a bearish 2022.
“Contagion caused by centralized counterparties has elevated bitcoin’s value propositions: decentralization, auditability, and transparency,” the report said. “Its network fundamentals have strengthened, and its holder base has become more long-term focused.”
In a post on social media platform X, Cathie Wood said that she sees an optimistic future where artificial intelligence and Bitcoin intersect. The convergence can “transform the way companies organize, causing a collapse in costs and an explosion in productivity,” she said, while adding:
“I was blown away by the possibilities these brilliant entrepreneurs are creating.”
The CEO of ARK Invest noted that a new era of deflation will come amid the onset of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, robotics, genomic sequencing, and blockchain.
Ark Invest’s Spot Bitcoin ETF
ARK Invest’s bullish prediction for bitcoin is also backed by the firm’s Spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) application that is currently under review with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The regulator delayed its decision on the Spot ETF proposed by ARK Invest and 21Shares in August and opened the application for public comments for a 21-day period.
As reported earlier by BitcoinNews, the ticker from BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, IBTC, was recently listed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). This sparked rumors of an upcoming approval.
