Ark Investment’s CEO, Cathie Wood, has explained why Bitcoin price would continue to appreciate to unprecedented heights.
In an interview, Wood identified that Bitcoin remains in an early growth phase. Despite its six-figure valuation, she emphasized that the premier crypto asset would continue to appreciate, citing its nascent institutional presence and favorable demand-supply dynamics.
Still the Beginning for Bitcoin
There are only 5.4% of Bitcoin’s 21 million total supply yet in circulation, which amounts to approximately 1.13 million BTC. Furthermore, the remaining Bitcoins have been spread across the next 115 years, a reality check for those yet to take the orange pill.
Wood emphasized that Bitcoin is getting scarce. An interesting detail to this is that institutions have yet to arrive on the scene at scale. While the statistics are improving daily, with new firms adding Bitcoin to their reserves, a vast majority of prominent firms have yet to adopt the prominent cryptocurrency.
Notably, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan recently noted that while 95% of Bitcoin is already in circulation, 95% of investable capital remains unexposed. Meanwhile, a study from Tephra Digital also showed that Bitcoin still cannot access $31 trillion in wealth, as financial advisors continue to observe the asset’s progress.
As a result, Wood noted that it is just the beginning for Bitcoin. According to her, institutions that would adopt Bitcoin from here would have to buy up the newly mined BTC, which dropped again to 3,150 BTC per week with the 2024 halving.
Another option is to “pay up” to get retail holders to sell off their stash. Recall that a Bitwise report showed that over 69% of Bitcoin’s supply is in the hands of individuals. As a result, institutions would have to hope that they paper-hand their Bitcoin to have some to buy.
Conclusively, Wood highlighted that Bitcoin’s scarcity value will increase due to the huge supply-demand imbalance, driving prices higher. Additionally, this simple economics would continue to ensure that the asset’s price appreciates indefinitely.
Wood’s Price Target for Bitcoin
Meanwhile, Wood and Ark Invest had already given their Bitcoin prediction for the next five years. An earlier projection had shown a rally to $1 million by 2030. However, the bullish developments surrounding the asset have prompted a review.
Ark Invest updated its predictions to $300,000 for a worst-case scenario and $2.4 billion in a best-case scenario. The reviewed outlook based the possible 2,197% rally on growing institutional and nation-state traction towards Bitcoin.
Wood also mentioned that Bitcoin would hit $1.5 million in a mildly bullish setting by 2030. At the time of writing, BTC trades at $104,499.
