Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood says that no matter how big Crypto wallet adoption will be over the next decade, Crypto Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFS) is likely to maintain its economic status.
“I think ETFs are an important stepping stone because wallets are so complicated and there’s so much friction for consumers that you just need to press a button,” Wood said at the Solana Accelerate event in New York on May 23.
The wallet will remain an insurance policy, Wood says
“So I think ETFs for those who want convenience will lose a lot of their sheen,” she said. “But they’ll be wallet-based stomps.”
“These are insurance contracts for problems occurring in the traditional world.”
Bitbo data suggests that there are around 200 million active Bitcoin (BTC) wallets around the world. Meanwhile, the trading week ending May 23 saw an influx of around $2.75 billion into US-based Bitcoin ETFs, hitting a new all-time high of $111,970 on May 22.
According to Farside data, approximately $444.9 billion has been recorded since the US launch of the Spot Bitcoin ETF, which was launched in the US in January 2024. Meanwhile, Spot Ether (ETH) ETF has seen an inflow of approximately $2.77 billion since its launch in July 2024.
Wood said the spot ether ETF is “less than expected” because the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not allow staking. On May 21, the SEC delayed its decision on Bitwise’s application to add staking to the Ether Exchange-Traded Fund.
However, Wood sees Ether as an entry point for new investors to become familiar with smart contracts before exploring other cryptocurrencies such as Solana (SOL).
“They may start in the world of ether and smart contracts, but when they study technology, follow developers and see the consumption by consumers, I think they get there,” Wood said.
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Wood said in January on the Solana Network that the launch of US President Donald Trump’s Memecoin and official Trump may have led investors to become skeptical of Solana.
“The system and you are saying 60-year-old kids… I think they may be stopped a bit by what happened with Trump’s Memo Coin,” Wood said. Just a few days after its release on January 17th, Trump slipped in about 50% after the president failed to issue a “first day” executive order related to the code.
“I mean, that might scare them,” Wood said. Her comments responded to ETF analyst Eric Balknas, who reiterated that it was “very easy” to explain to a “boomer or advisor” that Bitcoin is digital gold, but other cryptocurrencies were “more stricter.”
Wood said her price target for Solana is ongoing and will share it once the research is complete.
In April, ARK raised its “bullcase” Bitcoin price target from $1.5 million to $2.4 million by the end of 2030. This was driven primarily by increased acceptance of institutional investors and Bitcoin as a “digital gold.”
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