Bitcoin’s long-term outlook is improving, according to Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood.
The CEO and chief investment officer of the explosively popular active management firm told CNBC this week that cryptocurrency catalysts are increasing as it rises to unprecedented new peaks.
“I think the probability of an ETF has increased,” Wood told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” in a comprehensive interview on Wednesday.
With Gary Gensler – a longtime financier who taught digital currency at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – being appointed to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, the watchdog could become cryptographic during the Biden government, Wood said.
“I think we now have individuals involved who really understand space and I think the likelihood has increased” for a U.S. based ETF bitcoin.
Purpose Investments obtained approval for the first physically supported ETF bitcoin in Canada this week. The fund started trading on Thursday.
Now that American corporations, including Ark Invest’s favorite Tesla, are adding bitcoin to their balance sheets, their profit potential has grown exponentially, Wood said.
“We expected institutional interest to increase this year and it certainly did, but the way it increased surprised us,” she said. “I don’t think we ever thought there would be a widespread substitution of bitcoin for money on corporate balance sheets, so we found that very interesting.”
Tesla revealed a $ 1.5 billion bet on bitcoin through SEC documents earlier this month. Several other major players in the US market, including BlackRock, Mastercard and Square, have also announced moves into space.
“If all corporations in the United States applied … 10% of their money in bitcoin, that alone would add $ 200,000 to the price of bitcoin,” said Wood. “Now, obviously we do not believe that this will happen very quickly. We are talking about perhaps the equivalent of [a] $ 900 billion market capitalization. “
Bitcoin’s market value reached $ 1 trillion on Friday, according to the digital currency news site Coindesk.
“This has to mature a little before widespread adoption can occur, but we are very confident that companies like Square and Tesla have chosen to allocate,” said Wood on Wednesday.
Watch Purpose Investments CEO Som Seif’s founder “ETF Edge” interview about its newly launched bitcoin ETF on here.