Bitcoin Price Prediction: Ark Invest’s ‘Base Case’ is BTC at $650,000

The futurist investment management firm is one of several awaiting SEC approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF product. In a recent interview, CEO Cathie Wood said “something has changed” at the agency as they handle her fund’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Bitcoin price has whipsawed this week, pumping as high as $37,900 from the $35,200 handle over Tuesday and Wednesday. Then spot prices for BTC plunged below $35,800 Thursday before recovering with support at the $36,000 level Friday.

Bullish: Cathie Wood’s Bitcoin Price Prediction

The Ark Invest CEO and founder says the Securities and Exchange Commission has started to ask questions about her hedge fund’s Bitcoin ETF filing. Until recently, however, the SEC would simply outright reject Ark’s applications, she said.

Wood is also bullish for Bitcoin because of the upcoming halving and the currency’s 21 million supply cap. Wood said in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday:

“I think– so if we look at the reasons that bitcoin will scale, so our base case is today 600 to 650– $650,000, and our bull case, based on the scarcity that is now developing[…]”

After this part of her answer, Wood never gave an exact figure for Ark Invest’s base case. Instead, after emphasizing the limited supply of BTC, she pointed to an imminent onrush of institutional investors, noting:

“We think that institutions, if the SEC blesses a bitcoin ETF, institutions will feel like the coast is clear for them to pursue. And we know a lot of institutions have been researching crypto assets for a while and do agree that it is a new asset class.”

The Ark Invest CEO followed up with an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” to discuss Ark Invest’s ETF products and the still long-awaited SEC approval of Bitcoin ETFs.

Ark Invest Is Very Long on Cryptocurrencies

Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood and her hedge fund Ark Invest are bullish for the future. As a result, they are inveterate blockchain and BTC bulls.

Wood said in an October 2022 interview on Peter McCormack’s “What Bitcoin Did” podcast that she bought $100,000 worth of Bitcoin when it was $250. She said she hasn’t sold it ever since.

At $250 a pop, she most likely made the purchase around 2015. Given today’s average Bitcoin prices on crypto exchanges, that means Ark Invest is sitting on more than $14 million in unrealized profits from the trade.

Wood says she placed the hundred grand bet on Bitcoin after reading Satoshi Nakamoto’s white paper on peer-to-peer electronic cash systems.