Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood has trimmed her most bullish forecast for bitcoin, acknowledging that the rapid rise of stablecoins is taking on a role she once thought bitcoin would fill. “Stablecoins are usurping part of the role that we thought bitcoin would play,” Wood, CEO and chief investment officer of Ark, said Thursday on CNBC’s ” Squawk Box .” “So our bullish forecast out there is $1.5 million by 2030. Given what’s happening to stablecoins, which are serving emerging markets in a way that we thought bitcoin would, I think we could take maybe $300,000 off of that bullish case just for stablecoins. So watch that space. Stablecoins are scaling here much faster than anyone would have expected.” Wood’s comments mark a notable adjustment to her long-term view on bitcoin, which has been one of the highest-profile bullish forecasts in the industry. Ark Invest has long contended that bitcoin could serve as both a store of value and a global settlement system, but Wood now sees stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies — encroaching on some of that functionality. “Emerging markets are huge in this regard,” she said. “We’re starting to see institutions in the United States focused on new payment rails, with stablecoins at the core. So very interesting movement.” Earlier this week, bitcoin dipped below $100,000 for the first time in more than four months amid a broad sell-off among risk assets. The flagship cryptocurrency last traded at $102,510. BTC.CM= YTD mountain Bitcoin YTD Still, Wood remains deeply bullish on bitcoin , pointing to growing institutional adoption as a powerful driver of long-term value. “Bitcoin is a global monetary system, it is the lead in a new asset class, and it’s a technology, all wrapped in one,” she said. “Institutions really have just dipped their toes into this space. We have just started, so we have a long way to go.” Even with her slightly reduced bull case, Wood emphasized that the broader digital asset ecosystem is expanding, not contracting. “I think the whole space gets bigger,” she said. “This is, you know, a global monetary system really going digital without government oversight, very private. So it’s a very big idea.”
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