Known for investing in innovative and disruptive businesses, ARK Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood has stated more than once that she believes bitcoin can reach US$ 500,000. In June of this year, her company disclosed its intention to launch a new bitcoin futures ETF, which will invest in crypto futures contracts and trade on the CBOE BZX Exchange, called ARK 21Shares Bitcoin Futures Strategy, according to Reuters.
Cathie Wood, known to her admirers as the “queen of the bull market”, founded ARK in 2014. The New York-based financial institution has more than US$ 10 billion under management. The focus of its investments are businesses such as robotics, autonomous cars, artificial intelligence, big data, space exploration, genetic treatments, and, more recently, cryptoassets. In the manager’s view, according to a report in Exame magazine, “it is a risk to continue investing in traditional companies when there are so many innovations being tested and developed that can change entire economies”. The executive gained fame in 2018 by predicting the valuation of Tesla’s shares, which actually became true in January 2021.
Currently, on ARK’s radar, in addition to cryptoassets are the investments known as “FAANG”, a term used to name the five largest American technology stocks: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google.
Bitcoin changes the way people see money, says Cathie Wood
During The B Word event, Cathie stated that the bitcoin market is a long way from living in a “bubble moment” and stressed that ARK continues to rely on its potential. According to her, cryptoassets change people’s concept of money. “Those who do not believe in bitcoin are missing opportunities”, she said, also mentioning the positive aspect of the currency not being subject to the “whims of governing authorities”.
Despite the optimism, ARK has not invested in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy fund, according to the Business Insider, claiming the need to look into some tax issues related to the investment.
ARK maintains other investments in the crypto market. One of its funds, Ark Investment Management, has been approved to invest in Canada’s Bitcoin ETF under Ark Next Generation ETF. In addition, ARK Invest owns 8.3 million shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), according to CoinTelegraph, with bitcoin and Ethereum representing a good portion of the portfolio.
