ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood stated that regardless of how prevalent cryptocurrency wallets become in the next decade, cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may continue to play their economic role.
Wood said at the Solana Accelerate event in New York on May 23, 'I think ETFs are important intermediaries because wallets seem too complicated and cumbersome for consumers; they just want to click a button.'
Wood referred to wallets as still being an insurance policy.
She stated, 'For those who want convenience, ETFs won't lose much appeal, but they will become a stepping stone for wallet development.'
These are insurance policies against possible failures in the traditional world.
Bitbo data indicates that there are approximately 200 million active Bitcoin (BTC) wallets worldwide. Meanwhile, as of the trading week ending May 23, the U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF attracted about $2.75 billion in inflows, while Bitcoin reached a new high of $111,970 on May 22.
Since the U.S. launched the spot Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, approximately $44.49 billion in inflows have been recorded, according to Farside data. Meanwhile, since its launch in July 2024, the spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF has attracted about $2.77 billion in inflows.
Wood indicated that the spot Ethereum ETF has been less successful than expected due to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission not allowing staking. On May 21, the SEC postponed its decision on Bitwise's request to add staking to its Ethereum ETF application.
However, Wood still believes Ethereum is the entry point for new investors to understand smart contracts, after which they will explore other cryptocurrencies like Solana (SOL).
They may start from Ethereum in the world of smart contracts, but with research into the technology and observing the acceptance by developers and consumers, I believe they will eventually get there,” Wood said.
Wood also mentioned that the official TRUMP token from U.S. President Donald Trump, launched on the Solana network in January, may lead to investor skepticism towards Solana.
I think institutions and those over 60... may have concerns about the Trump token event,” Wood said. Shortly after its launch on January 17, TRUMP fell about 50% because the president did not sign any 'first-day' executive orders related to cryptocurrency.
This may scare them,” Wood said. Her comments were in response to ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who stated that Bitcoin could easily be interpreted as 'digital gold', but other cryptocurrencies are harder to categorize.
Wood stated that her price target for Solana is still in progress and will be released after the research is completed.
In April, ARK raised its 'bull market scenario' price target for Bitcoin from $1.5 million to $2.4 million by the end of 2030, mainly due to the increasing acceptance of institutional investors and Bitcoin as 'digital gold.'
Magazine: Traditional finance is building Ethereum L2 for the tokenization of trillions of dollars in real-world assets: The inside story.
