Cathie Wood on Bitcoin
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Cathie Wood is the founder, CEO and CIO of Ark Invest. In this interview, we discuss investing in disruptive technologies, the importance of research for investment, deflationary signals, uncertainty in the Fed’s decision-making, and Ark’s continued bullish outlook for Bitcoin.
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Back in 2015, Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest became the first public fund manager to invest in Bitcoin. This was a very early trade for an institutional basis, prior to some of the major news events that have led others to have followed Ark in recent years. But this is Ark’s business, identifying nascent technologies that could serve to be the basis for real societal change.
Cathie Wood’s business strategy is to get into the detail of the markets they're interested in. This means research by informed analysts who can unpick the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for each specific industry. Any bullish statement they make is based on hard business data, not just an extrapolation of financial performance.
The elephant in the room for Ark is that their Innovation ETF is down 75% from its highs in the early part of 2021. This has placed Ark and Cathie in the firing line of commentators. And for every negative article or tv piece, there will be a line of nervous investors seeking reassurance. This is when research pays off - it matters when you have a strong narrative to fall back on if you want to maintain investor confidence.
So, when Ark makes statements about Bitcoin we should all take note, as they’re not in the market for unwarranted hyperbole. Well, they remain one of the biggest cheerleaders for Bitcoin within the institutional space. Ark followed up a bullish prediction for Bitcoin’s valuation at the beginning of this year by doubling down on their forecast a few weeks ago: they are expecting a $1 million per coin valuation in the coming years.
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier this month, Ark stated Bitcoin is in “an arms race” against traditional finance and asset classes. Ark is confident of Bitcoin’s ability to be at the heart of a revolution in money given its multiple use cases. Seeing as their fund has tracked the performance of the S&P500 over the past few years, despite it being an extended and brutal bear market for tech stocks, you wouldn’t bet against them getting this call right.
00:02:39: Introductions
00:06:19: Cathie's background
00:12:11: The breakdown of FANG
00:22:13: Investing in disruptive technologies
00:27:44: Investment term time horizons
00:32:03: How the Fed's decisions impact ARK's funds
00:41:18: Impacts of a strong dollar, and signs of deflation
00:54:26: Cathie's orange pilling story
00:57:55: Grayscale Trust, and investing in Bitcoin
01:04:21: Future plans for ARK
01:05:50: Final comments
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Mentioned in the interview:
Laffer Curve: History and Critique - Investopedia, Aug 25th 2022
FANG Stocks: Definition, Companies, Performance, and How to Invest - Investopedia, Jul 17th 2022
What Is Wright's Law | Learning Curve of Innovation - ARK Invest
ARK Extends An Open Letter To The Fed - ARK Invest, Oct 10th 2022
How the Great Inflation of the 1970s Happened - Investopedia
BoE intervention saved pension schemes from needing employer cash-regulator - Reuters, Oct 12th 2022
Why China's central bank is shoring up the yuan - CNBC - Sep 6th 2022
United States Producer Price Inflation MoM - Trading Economics
Ocean freight orders are signaling a big drop in consumer demand - CNBC, Oct 3rd 2022
Grayscale Lawsuit Moves Forward as GBTC Discount Widens - Blockworks, Oct 14th 2022
The rise of the crypto-curious Democrat - Fortune, May 8th 2022
After the tech sell-off: will growth investors keep the faith? - FT, Sep 13th 2022
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