Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest was a guest on Merryn Somerset Webb’s show ‘Merryn Talks Money’ where she discussed the macro environment and recent events in the financial world. What will be of particular interest to the crypto community is what she had to say about the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
“Bitcoin without a doubt”
When Merryn asked where she would like to store gold, cash and Bitcoin for ten years, Wood responded by saying, “Bitcoin hands down.” She noted that Bitcoin and Gold both have that hedging functionalitiesthe latter had all its time, unlike Bitcoin, which labeled them as ‘new’ and was just gaining momentum.
While highlighting Bitcoin’s future potential and “increasing demand,” she stated that institutions are still barely involved and that the big investors of the future (the “young people,” as Wood put it) would rather own Bitcoin would have more than gold. She also said that Bitcoin has recently been outperforming gold in terms of its hedging capabilities.
Wood’s bullish stance on the leading cryptocurrency may not come as a surprise to many, considering that her company, ARK Investis one of many asset managers that have registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to offer a Spot Bitcoin ETF.
Interestingly enough, her company is leading the race for approval as the SEC is expected to make a decision (possibly approve) on their company application in January 2024with decisions about the other applications will follow. However, it remains to be seen if that will happen, as the SEC may choose to approve all funds at the same time (if that is the case).
Cathie Wood recognizes the importance of Bitcoin
Earlier in the interview, Wood highlighted the price of Bitcoin as one of the things her company was watching regarding the financial markets and deciding on how to measure inflation.
She alluded to the price of Bitcoin rose from $19,000 to $30,000 during the regional banking crisis That happened in March, when a number of banks, such as Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed.
She described the rise of Bitcoin during that period as “fascinating” and many saw the cryptocurrency as a “flight to safety.” While many have touted Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation in the past, Cathie Wood believes it can go either way as the cryptocurrency can also serve as a hedge against deflation as there is no counterparty risk in Bitcoin.
She seemed to suggest that Bitcoin was a refuge for manyespecially with the banking crisis as it was completely ‘transparent and decentralized’, unlike banks where customers know nothing about what goes into them and how their deposits are used or secured.
BTC trading in a tight range | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
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