Cathie Wood chooses Bitcoin over Ethereum, 'without a doubt'

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, has expressed her strong preference for bitcoin over ethereum, stating that bitcoin is “without a doubt” her investment choice, she said at a conference at Consensus 2024.

Speaking at the event, Wood emphasized bitcoin's unique qualities, describing it as a “global monetary system,” a “technology,” and a “new asset class.” She argued that no other cryptocurrency comes close to the potential and importance of bitcoin.

Wood believes that bitcoin could capture a significant portion of the global money supply, potentially up to 20%, following the example of countries like El Salvador, where bitcoin has been adopted as legal tender. She sees bitcoin as an “insurance policy” for countries and individuals whose purchasing power and wealth are eroding.

When asked about bitcoin's progress since its initial blog post in 2014 and white paper in 2015, Wood expressed his lack of surprise at the cryptocurrency's growth.

She stated: “This is a great idea and it is unstoppable. There is no throat to choke.”

Wood also addressed the importance of maintaining bitcoin's founding principles, such as decentralization, censorship resistance, and the right to self-custody. To support these principles and the developers who champion them, ARK Invest has committed to allocating a percentage of its private funding revenue to support leading bitcoin developers.

Additionally, ARK Invest is developing a decentralization index to monitor and measure the balance between centralization and decentralization in the bitcoin ecosystem. Wood believes that understanding and addressing potential centralization risks is crucial to bitcoin's long-term success.

Looking ahead, Wood identified regulatory risks as one of the main obstacles facing not only bitcoin but also other innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence. He expressed concern that excessive regulation in the United States could lead to a loss of talent and innovation in other countries.

Earlier this year, Wood noted a continued shift from gold to bitcoin, stating that the debut of eleven bitcoin spot ETFs will continue to drive this trend.