Cathie Wood Fireside Chat Transcript: Bitcoin Will Rise to $1.5 Million by 2030, Gaming to Integrate AI and Blockchain Technology
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Cathie Wood Fireside Chat Transcript: Bitcoin Will Rise to $1.5 Million by 2030, Gaming to Integrate AI and Blockchain Technology
Optimistic about AI and blockchain applications in the gaming sector, reiterating its belief that Bitcoin will rise to $1.5 million by 2030.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsDC, CEO of HashKey Capital, held a fireside chat with Cathie Wood, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of ARK Invest, at the opening of the Hong Kong Web3 Festival, discussing topics including AI, Bitcoin prices, and regulation. Cathie Wood expressed her belief in Bitcoin's strong resistance to devaluation, voiced optimism about AI and blockchain applications in gaming, and reiterated her firm’s forecast that Bitcoin will reach $1.5 million by 2030.
Below is the full transcript:
DC: Good morning everyone! I feel a bit of pressure but also great excitement for today’s roundtable discussion. I’m from HashKey Capital, a leading institutional investor in the Web3 industry, managing over $1 billion in assets under management (AUM), with more than 500 portfolio companies, officially operating out of Singapore since 2015.
Today we are honored to have Cathie Wood joining us. She brings years of investment experience, and we’re thrilled she could participate. Before diving deeper, would you like to say hello to our audience, Cathie?
Cathie Wood: It’s a pleasure to be part of this roundtable. I regret not being able to attend in person, but I’m truly honored to be invited to this conference. Listening to speeches from Hong Kong officials and leaders earlier has been very inspiring. I hope I can bring some perspectives from the U.S. today.
DC: Today’s guests are all experts from the blockchain ecosystem and fintech sectors. Cathie will share insights on mainstream trends and future outlooks.
I’d like to ask: what has been Ark Investment’s overarching direction over the past few years? And how might it influence individual businesses or players within blockchain going forward?
Cathie Wood: That’s a big question. Over recent years, we’ve seen Bitcoin and blockchain technology mature significantly—this is a massive concept. Why do I say it’s so large? Because an internet-based financial system built from the Bitcoin perspective was never considered during the early days of the internet in the 1990s.
Now, e-commerce and every aspect of finance are beginning to be influenced by Web3. The most visible impact today is that many developments are still in their infancy. This is a global, cross-border market accessible to anyone with internet access.
What’s exciting now is that Web3 is slowly taking shape, accelerated by generative AI—similar to how inventions like the telephone and television emerged in the last century. These technologies can dramatically boost productivity and income, improve lifestyles, allow people to better enjoy personal time, and greatly enhance human effectiveness during waking hours.
From current adoption rates of 30%–40%, we expect much higher allocations over the next five to ten years. Digital assets have gradually entered the mainstream. Beyond Bitcoin, there are other “digital assets” that not only perform well during bull markets but also serve as effective hedges. During past regional banking crises, traditional banks performed poorly while Bitcoin rose 40%. This year, we’ve seen developing countries’ currencies depreciate rapidly, yet Bitcoin’s value continues to climb. More individuals worldwide are recognizing Bitcoin’s true significance—and its robust resistance to inflation and devaluation.
DC: Let’s move on to AI, which is currently a hot topic in Silicon Valley and gaining widespread attention in Hong Kong.
How do you think AI will integrate with blockchain technology in the future, and what kind of impact will it have on Web3?
Cathie Wood: Excellent question. We host monthly Bitcoin brainstorming sessions, and we’ve done podcasts on the integration of AI and Bitcoin. We believe people will come to understand the internet economy—platforms like Uber and Airbnb, which have flourished across Asia. In the future, we’ll increasingly see the benefits, especially for developing regions like Africa, where transformative change could happen rapidly.
We’re also seeing blockchain and gaming become increasingly driven and promoted by AI—a particularly fascinating area. Recently, I saw news about Sony’s investments in gaming and Polygon’s moves in blockchain, indicating growing capital inflows into this space.
Projects like NFLRivals and Polkadot show more games integrating AI and blockchain to create innovative new products. NVIDIA began seriously investing in this area back in 2014, and the integration of NVIDIA GPUs with gaming already shows successful case studies. I’m highly confident this will be a major growth area in the future.
The core spirit of AI is to deliver faster processing power, and gaming has always led technological frontiers—so tangible results in this domain are imminent.
Previously, I attended a prominent conference, Bitcoin Miami, where we discussed increasing participation in virtual markets, combining them with existing creativity rather than just pure cryptocurrency trading. We’re already seeing more blockchain integration in “F1,” and more users will join this ecosystem.
DC: Now let’s circle back to digital assets. Congratulations again on Ark Invest’s Bitcoin Spot ETF successfully launching. What do you consider the most important milestone for the digital asset ETF industry? Is it when ETFs surpass $5 billion? Or is there another clear growth metric?
Cathie Wood: Many are surprised that Europe has allowed such trading for five years, but nothing compares to the sudden surge we’ve seen in the U.S., where dramatic events often unfold. As many know, there were recent lawsuits. From a regulatory standpoint, U.S. agencies like the SEC have historically resisted anything related to crypto or virtual assets. But these legal challenges helped push things forward, gradually helping U.S. regulators understand that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin can be safely traded and regulated to a certain extent. For the first time in history, they approved 11 ETFs simultaneously—an unprecedented event. So we’re now doing everything we can in marketing and investor education, providing training and resources to help investors better understand how to operate within this space.
More U.S. clients are realizing that even entirely new asset classes can be viable investment options. Increasingly, institutions and investors are willing to allocate capital because this asset class offers diversification—it doesn’t correlate with others. Of course, Bitcoin carries risk and experiences bull and bear cycles, but unlike gold, it isn’t tied to various macroeconomic factors. How can Bitcoin maintain an independent price trajectory? Due to its asset independence. When included in an investment portfolio, its lack of correlation with other assets can enhance returns and reduce overall risk exposure.
Low-correlation products hold strong appeal for certain U.S. investors—they’re eager to experiment.
DC: Yes, we’re very happy here in Hong Kong to have an open and transparent government leading industrial development with supportive policies. I’d love to hear your advice: what recommendations do you have for the Asian Web3 community? Any suggestions for regulators, investment institutions, and the broader Asian and Hong Kong markets?
Cathie Wood: I think you’re doing an incredible job. Hong Kong’s regulators, such as the SFC, have done exceptionally well, establishing a comprehensive framework that allows virtual asset products to be traded, along with robust institutional oversight mechanisms. Regulatory transparency is crucial for industry development and technological innovation—it gives developers greater confidence.
Hong Kong is very different from the U.S.—it’s moving much faster. I frequently highlight this at global financial conferences. In terms of policy, Hong Kong is a “leader,” strongly encouraging innovation and entrepreneurial engagement. The collaborative model between government and private sector sets a powerful example for institutions worldwide.
Even as the U.S. faces uncertainty, Hong Kong demonstrates how quickly assets can be tokenized and how rapidly market demands can be met. This serves as an excellent reference for us. Hong Kong’s regulators have truly played a pioneering, exemplary role, empowering companies to expand globally with greater confidence. I’m genuinely pleased and congratulate Hong Kong on its progress.
Earlier, before starting, I expressed my admiration and heard other Hong Kong officials present excellent policies. For us, this is valuable learning—important and sincere—because a healthy, stable environment is essential for fostering innovation, protecting investors, and safeguarding consumers.
I also encourage the U.S. to follow suit. Currently, the U.S. faces regulatory uncertainty and a brain drain in the blockchain sector. If regulators treated innovators with more clarity and freedom, we’d see far better outcomes.
My suggestion is to leverage your regulatory experience to provide entrepreneurs with stronger pathways for global expansion.
DC: Thank you, Cathie. I have one final “million-dollar” question—one that everyone here is eager to hear. What’s your outlook on Bitcoin’s price trajectory? We’ve heard many predictions—$1.5 million, $2.3 million, even $3.8 million per Bitcoin. Cathie, what’s your current forecast, and over what timeline?
Cathie Wood: I’ve been asked this from many angles. Our multi-faceted analysis leads us to project Bitcoin reaching $1.5 million by 2030. This forecast comes from institutional surveys using discount rate and volatility analysis. Previously, our 2030 price estimate was $600,000, but the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs will drive it up to $1.5 million.
If I gave you that number last year, it would have been closer to $600,000. Why did we raise it to $1.5 million? Because the SEC gave the “green light,” approving spot Bitcoin ETFs for mainstream institutions. Applying modern portfolio theory—with just 5% of institutional portfolios allocated to Bitcoin—we arrive at the $1.5 million estimate, as we expect institutions to move in this direction.
DC: Thank you, Cathie, for sharing your $1.5 million per Bitcoin price projection. That concludes our fireside chat. Thank you, Cathie, for your insightful and engaging discussion. Goodbye everyone, and let’s give another round of applause for Cathie.
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