BlocksInform
Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, says digital portfolios and blockchain technology were among the "revolutionary innovations" that stock markets largely ignored in 2022.
In a Jan. 12 blog post on the ARK Invest website, Wood suggested that the equity market faced a “wall of worry” in 2022, caused by fears of entrenched inflation and higher interest rates, and largely ignored a number of innovative technologies.
Wood points out that digital wallets "replace cash and credit cards," noting that they surpassed cash as the primary method of transaction for offline business in 2020.
In addition, arguing that digital wallets should not be neglected, she highlighted that they also represented about 50% of global e-commerce in 2021.
After the toughest year on the stock market for innovation-based strategies, we just sent a letter to our customers highlighting the cutting-edge technologies that are already transforming the world. We believe innovation is the answer! https://t.co/YdBiIZhY0D
— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) January 13, 2023
Wood suggested that the recent collapse of crypto exchange FTX hasn’t affected the larger mission of what public blockchains were intended for. She noted:
“Public Blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have not skipped a beat in processing transactions.”
Wood highlighted how the FTX collapse educated crypto investors to be more diligent with where they store their crypto assets, saying that the share of trading volume on decentralized exchanges, which allow for trading without a central intermediary, rose 37%, jumping from 8.35% to 11.4%.
Wood stated that she has never, in her 30 years of portfolio management experience, experienced such volatile market conditions and has never seen such dislocation in markets.
The Chief Executive Officer suggested that the economic situation is difficult, with a reduction in the amount of money available, lower prices for raw materials and the "settlement" of inflated stocks, which indicate that inflation is slowing, and perhaps deflation as well.
Related: Visa dreams up plans to let you auto-pay bills from your crypto wallet
Wood noted in the report that there is high concern among investors that investors hold "high levels" of liquidity unprecedented since the September 11, 2001 crisis.
Artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles, space exploration and 3D printing are other "revolutionary" innovations that, according to Wood, were largely overlooked by the stock market in 2022.
It believes that in spite of market uncertainty, disruptive innovation technologies that "solve problems" have historically "gained share in times of turbulence."
