Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood Says Big Tech Firms Exploring Bitcoin

Ark Invest founder and CEO Cathie Wood says she is expecting a new wave of institutional investors to put Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

In an episode of ARK Invest’s In the Know series, Cathie Wood says she is witnessing a spike in institutional interest in Bitcoin.

Wood bets that big companies, especially tech firms, will follow in the footsteps of payment giant Square and Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy and purchase BTC as a hedge against the dollar.

“We have individuals and companies calling us about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies saying, ‘Should we put some of our cash into Bitcoin?’ These are companies, and as you know Square has done that, as has MicroStrategy. I think we’re going to hear about more companies putting this hedge on their balance sheet, as well, particularly tech companies – innovative companies who understand the technology and are comfortable with it.” 

Wood says the Office of the Comptroller’s crypto-friendly policies, such as allowing banks to issue stablecoins and act as nodes on a blockchain or its recent decision to grant a crypto banking charter to Anchorage Digital National Bank Association, will likely help usher in further crypto adoption.

“I also think that there’s been more validation in the space when it comes to the regulators. Brian Brooks at the OCC, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, has basically said that public blockchains can be used for the settlement of transactions, and banks can become nodes on those public blockchains. Well, that was like a bolt of lightning. I just never expected it and I don’t think anyone else did either, except perhaps for some in the crypto world who were working closely with the regulators which clearly has been the case.”  

Wood also highlights the diminishing value of the dollar as a reason investors are flocking to Bitcoin, calling the leading crypto asset as the best hedge against dollar devaluation.

“I believe there’s no better hedge against inflation than Bitcoin…

The dollar dropped roughly seven percent last year. We, in the United States, lost seven percent in purchasing power relative to other currencies around the world. We also lost a bit to inflation, but inflation is low and may even be overstated because the statistics don’t capture the digital economy and the deflationary impact of the digital economy that well. But, if it does break down from here, the dollar, it will be a major breakdown. If you just look at a long-term chart, it will force the Federal Reserve to reassess its position and perhaps the Treasury.” 

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