The fact that Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood predicted that bitcoin would reach $1.2 million by 2030 speaks volumes about the Ark Invest CEO’s still-upbeat outlook, and it was actually a downgrade.
This feature is part of CoinDesk 2025 Most Influential List.
Cathie Wood made her forecast for the BTC price in November 2025, slightly revising the target downward from $1.5 million due to the explosive rise in stablecoins, which she said could usurp some of bitcoin’s value as a transactional instrument.
His impact on cryptocurrency goes beyond his notoriously bullish predictions, however. Ark’s bitcoin spot ETF, which it listed in partnership with 21Shares, is the third-largest such product in the United States, behind runaway market leaders provided by asset management giants BlackRock and Fidelity.
Wood’s optimistic outlook for the cryptocurrency sector is evident in the holdings of some of Ark’s largest ETFs. The company’s $8.4 billion Innovation ETF counts cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase among its largest holdings, as do two of Ark’s other largest ETFs by net assets.
The 2025 initial public offerings (IPOs) of stablecoin issuer Circle and crypto exchange Bullish (CoinDesk’s parent company) also attracted significant investment from Ark.
Through its ETFs, Ark and, by extension, Wood, who also serves as chief investment officer (CIO), can represent a North Star for understanding which disruptive technologies are likely to deliver the most lucrative high-growth plays.
