Cathie Wood says bitcoin ETF approval makes her $1.5 million bull case more likely
Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said the approval of bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the U.S. made her more convinced that the world's largest cryptocurrency could hit her wildly bullish target. For her bull case, the Ark Invest chief sees bitcoin hitting $1.5 million by 2030. Her base case is in the $600,000 range, she said. "We think the probability of the bull case has increased with this SEC approval. This is a green light," Wood said on CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Thursday. "It is the first global decentralized digital rules based … monetary system in history. It is a very big idea." On Wednesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved new rules that allow for the introduction of bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. that are based on its spot price. The news has been long awaited by investors in the crypto space as it is seen as lending more credibility to what has been a volatile industry and asset class. Bitcoin traded higher Thursday, topping $47,000, following the news. The Ark Invest CEO and chief investment officer has been a longtime crypto bull. Wood believes the price of bitcoin could surge if companies continue to diversify their cash holdings and institutional investors continue to allocate 5% of their portfolio to crypto. The ETF decision may push institutions further in that direction. "We believe that bitcoin is a public good. What we have here, we believe, is a financial superhighway. It is the layer of the internet that developers did not build in the early '90s," Wood said. Ark Invest has partnered with 21Shares on a proposed bitcoin fund — the Ark21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB). Wood is also a big investor in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust , known by its ticker GBTC, through the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW). "We are partnered with 21 shares, which is the largest pure play crypto ETP provider in the world," Wood said, referencing exchange-traded products. "We're the only ones with both the crypto and the ETF expertise."