$btc: ark invest ceo explains why “sbf didn’t like bitcoin at all”

Yesterday (1 February 2023), Catherine Wood, Founder, CIO, and CEO at ARK Investment Management, LLC (aka “ARK” or “ARK Invest”), shared her thoughts on crypto.

On November 23, 2022, Wood spoke to Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec about Bitcoin and Ethereum on Bloomberg Businessweek Radio.

One of Wood's early questions was why she always trusted crypto. The ARK Invest CEO replied:

“If you look at the blockchains — let’s use the Bitcoin blockchain and Ethereum — what you’ll find is they have the infrastructure. There has been no change in technology since the crisis began. In fact, the hash rate of Bitcoin is at a record level, and this is a true indication of the security of the network.

“On Ethereum, we’re seeing the total value staked at $24 billion; that is an all-time high. We therefore think that the infrastructure works very well.“

With regard to Bitcoin, when asked if she stands by her prediction that Bitcoin will be worth one million dollars per coin by 2030, Wood said:

“Yes. Sometimes you have to undergo a combat test, you have to go through crises to see the survivors, first of all. And again, we think bitcoin is getting out of that pink smell because of what I mentioned earlier.

“And I do think that the one thing that will be delayed is perhaps institutions stepping back and just saying, ‘okay, do we really understand this?’, and once they actually do the homework and see what’s happened here, I think they might be more comfortable moving into Bitcoin and perhaps Ether as a first stop, as they’ll understand it more.“

The ARK Invest CEO’s most recent comments about crypto were made during a conversation with Andrew Ross Sorkin, co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

When asked if she still believes that the Bitcoin price is going to $500K, Wood replied:

“Yes, we are. We're actually a little further ahead than that in our baseline scenario for 2030. And in our bull business, much more elevated. If you look at the last year or so, in fact, Sam Bankman-Fried didn't like bitcoin at all, and he didn't like it because of its decentralization and transparency. 

“And what companies went under, they were the highly centralized, non-transparent opaque companies, so FTX, Celsius, Three Arrows Capital. If you look at what happened to Bitcoin, the network, and the etheum, the network, they really haven't jumped a beat at all. All transactions have been carried out. Every open and closed smart contracts. 

“So I think that starting with 2008-2009, which is when Bitcoin really debuted and even more so after the crypto fallout this past year — the collapse in many companies — this idea of transparency and decentralization is taking hold, and bitcoin and Ethereum are the two best manifestations of that in the crypto world.“