Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, echoed her bullishness on the crypto industry. In a recent interview with CNBC’s ‘Squawk Box’, Cathie Wood argued that the crypto industry is on the cusp of reaching a $25 trillion valuation given a regulatory breakthrough in the US. Of the multitude of digital assets on the market today, Wood sees two cryptocurrencies driving much of that growth: Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Cathie Wood predicts a $25 trillion crypto ecosystem
The entire crypto industry has witnessed it unprecedented growth since mid-October. According to data from Coingeckothe entire crypto market cap has increased by 35% from $1.096 trillion on October 15 to a current value of $1.4828 trillion.
However, Cathie Wood believes that this growth is not over and that the sector will reach a valuation of $25 trillion in the near future. A market cap of $25 trillion means the sector should grow as much as 1,585% from current levels.
Cathie Wood had previously predicted in 2021 that Bitcoin would rise more than ten times its value in the next five years, when the asset was still trading around $50,000. Considering that Bitcoin is now selling for around $37,000, Sqwauk Box host Andrew Ross Sorkin said questioned Wood on whether she still stands by her prediction.
“If we have this conversation in ’25, ’26, are you on the right track?” Sorkin asked. “Yes,” Wood replied.
The CEO did say that this growth would only be feasible if there was a regulatory green light to allow financial institutions to participate in the cryptocurrency market. She also brought up the role Spot Bitcoin ETFs will play in the expected spike, specifically BlackRock and Coinbase’s plan to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US.
“I think the partnership between BlackRock and Coinbase will be very important,” she said.
Total market cap a long way away from $25 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on Tradingview.com
Bitcoin and Ethereum to look out for
Wood specifically mentioned two coins to watch out for as catalysts for this growth: Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two most important assets. This is not surprising, as these two assets have developed better price stability over the years than most others.
“Our expectation is that the crypto asset ecosystem will be dominated [by Ether and Bitcoin]and it will scale from just over $1 trillion today to $25 trillion by 2030 as this new world evolves,” Wood explains.
The CEO of ARK Invest has been a long-time supporter of Bitcoin. In another interview she said she would prefer to hold Bitcoin over cash and gold for 10 years. The CEO is also no stranger to Bitcoin price predictions, as she has previously said BTC will go to $500,000 and even reaching $1.48 million in the next seven years.
According to The latest report from CoinSharesinvestment products linked to digital assets just reached annual institutional inflows of $1.14 billion. Most of this money ($1.083 billion) has gone into Bitcoin investment products. This could mark the beginning of large-scale institutional investor participation, which Wood believes will push the cryptocurrency market cap to $25 trillion.
ARK Invest is also waiting for the green light from the SEC spot Ethereum ETF application. The approval of a Spot Bitcoin ETF by the SEC is expected to propel the crypto market into its next bull run.
Featured image from Markets Insider, chart from Tradingview.com