Interview with Cathie Wood: Ark Invest's Three Main Directions, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana Are the Final Choices

Compiled & Edited by: TechFlow

Guest: Cathie Wood , Founder and CEO of Ark Invest

Host: Wilfred Frost

Podcast Source: The Master Investor Podcast with Wilfred Frost

Original Title: Cathie Wood Part II: Why Bitcoin Will Always Be #1 Cryptocurrency

Broadcast Date: September 27, 2025

Key Takeaways

Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of Ark Invest, shared why she firmly believes Bitcoin will become the leading cryptocurrency and explained in detail the important role of stablecoins in the crypto ecosystem. She also mentioned her friendly disagreements with Tom Lee from Fundstrat. Although she does not believe Ethereum will surpass Bitcoin, her attitude toward Ethereum has changed, and she recently invested in BitMine.

Additionally, Cathie discussed the potential impact of gold’s recent strong performance on the crypto market and the broader financial markets. She provided valuable insights for investors to navigate challenges in this rapidly changing field, helping them better grasp market trends and investment opportunities.

Highlights

• Ark’s main investment directions are Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

• There are not many truly promising cryptocurrencies. In the pure cryptocurrency sector, Bitcoin dominates. Besides that, there are stablecoins, which are also cryptocurrencies.

• Bitcoin has three key roles. First, it is the foundation of the global monetary system; second, as an L1, it has never been hacked; third, it is the pioneer in the crypto asset field.

• In addition, we are also watching some emerging projects, such as Hyperliquid. This project is reminiscent of Solana’s early development stage. It has begun to prove its value and is gradually competing with major players in the industry.

• We also pay attention to other services, such as money market funds, and projects related to the Solana ecosystem, such as Jito.

• We have not invested in gold, but that does not mean it is a bad investment.

The Value of Stablecoins

Wilfred Frost:

I heard you are a staunch supporter of cryptocurrencies. So do you believe in all cryptocurrencies, or do you only have confidence in certain specific ones?

Cathie Wood:

We don’t believe all cryptocurrencies have development potential. In fact, we think there are not many truly promising cryptocurrencies. In the pure cryptocurrency sector, Bitcoin dominates. Besides that, there are stablecoins, which are also cryptocurrencies, but are mainly pegged to the US dollar, as they are usually backed by government bonds.

Therefore, we believe Bitcoin is the only true cryptocurrency, and it will become the largest in the market. Bitcoin is a rules-based monetary system, and its rules follow the quantity theory of money. The total supply of Bitcoin is capped at 21 million, with about 20 million already in circulation. This is the so-called quantity theory. Stablecoins, on the other hand, are digital assets based on the US dollar. If you can find ways to use stablecoins, such as in DeFi, you can also earn yields. Just last week, Coinbase launched a product that allows users to lend USDC to others in the DeFi ecosystem. Although, due to regulatory reasons, these loans cannot receive traditional interest payments, users can still earn yields as high as 10.4%.

Wilfred Frost:

I’d like to understand more about stablecoins. I can see why assets denominated in US dollars and easy to transfer would be attractive. For example, in some countries, stablecoins may be used to avoid the risk of asset seizure. But for people living in London or New York, what’s the reason to use stablecoins? After all, dollars or pounds can already be easily transferred, can earn interest, and are backed by central banks and governments. In these countries, what’s the advantage of transacting with stablecoins?

Cathie Wood:

You’re right, there are mainly two types of stablecoins in the market: Tether and Circle. Tether mainly circulates outside the US and Europe, while Circle has stronger regulatory compliance in the US. In addition, Circle has launched a euro-based USDC stablecoin, but it has not yet been widely adopted. In Europe, with the implementation of Mica (the crypto asset market regulatory framework), Tether and Circle have captured 90% of the stablecoin market.

So, why do people in developed countries also need stablecoins? We understand the demand in emerging markets, such as in countries with unstable economies, where people can protect their wealth with stablecoins. We once thought Bitcoin would take on this role, but the emergence of stablecoins has indeed taken some market share from Bitcoin, which we did not anticipate in our initial analysis.

In the world of blockchain technology, we are gradually eliminating intermediaries in financial services. These intermediaries, which I have jokingly called “toll booths,” exist to reduce transaction risk and protect the safety of transactions between financial institutions. However, in the peer-to-peer transaction model of blockchain, these intermediaries will be completely replaced. Simply put, traditional credit cards usually charge a 2.5% fee per transaction, which is the cost brought by intermediaries. Blockchain-based transaction fees can be significantly reduced. In developed countries, these fees could drop from 2%–4% to below 1%, and in emerging markets, such as remittance fees in Nigeria that can be as high as 25%, these costs are also expected to decrease significantly. Ultimately, blockchain technology will compress global transaction costs to extremely low levels.

Wilfred Frost:

Where exactly are these fees now? Because the mining and transaction costs of cryptocurrencies are still far from below 1%.

Cathie Wood:

These changes will take time to realize. For example, I just mentioned the USDC case, where someone says: “I can lend funds at a 10.4% rate, right? Such a rate is not available elsewhere.” This is a high-yield savings method for depositors. And those borrowing at 10.4% are usually too small to get loans from banks. DeFi is changing this situation, giving people who previously had difficulty obtaining loans an opportunity, while also providing higher returns for depositors.

The on-chain ecosystem is very transparent, and many loans are over-collateralized. We learned this from crypto collapses like 3AC and Luna. On the blockchain, anyone’s collateral will be automatically liquidated if its value is insufficient, meaning financial institutions can quickly recover funds. In opaque and highly centralized systems like FTX, funds can be completely lost. Therefore, from a security perspective, the transparent mechanism on-chain is actually more reliable than FTX, which was obviously a fraudulent company.

The Key Role of Bitcoin

Wilfred Frost:

A few weeks ago, we interviewed Tom Lee, who is a supporter of Bitcoin but is more optimistic about Ethereum’s future. He believes Ethereum will surpass Bitcoin in scale. Why do you think he’s wrong? Why will Bitcoin always be more important than Ethereum?

Cathie Wood:

Bitcoin has three key roles. First, it is the foundation of the global monetary system, following strict quantity rules. This is a very important concept in itself. Second, as the first layer of blockchain technology, it has never been hacked, which other blockchains cannot claim. This is also why monetary systems choose to be based on Bitcoin. Third, it is the pioneer in the crypto asset field; we wrote the first white paper on Bitcoin as early as 2016. These attributes give Bitcoin unique advantages.

However, Ethereum also plays an important role in decentralized finance (DeFi). Ether is the native currency in the DeFi ecosystem, and many transaction fees flow to second-layer scaling solutions, such as Robinhood recently announcing the launch of its own L2 network, similar to Coinbase’s Base. These L2 networks receive a disproportionate amount of fees. The question now is, as L2 networks increase, will they compete with each other, thereby enhancing the importance of L1? This is a trend worth watching and one of the reasons we invest in Ethereum. Nevertheless, I think these competitive relationships are something Tom and I could discuss in depth.

Focus on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana

Wilfred Frost:

For other cryptocurrencies, do you think there are many worth investing in? Or are there actually only a few?

Cathie Wood:

Currently, only a few cryptocurrencies are worth paying attention to. In our public funds, we mainly invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum. These trades are public, so I can tell you that we have found a regulatory-compliant way to invest in Ethereum. In addition, we have chosen Bitcoin mining companies as an important investment direction.

Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, Solana is the third project we focus on. Our investment in Solana is made through Brara Sports. Some people think that I or Ark acquired some sports teams, but that’s not the case. Brara Sports is a company that collaborates with the Solana Treasury and is supported by the UAE, and these partnerships have made Solana’s role even more important.

These three cryptocurrencies are our main investment directions. In addition, we are also watching some emerging projects, such as Hyperliquid. This project is reminiscent of Solana’s early development stage. It has begun to prove its value and is gradually competing with major players in the industry.

We also pay attention to other services, such as money market funds, and projects related to the Solana ecosystem, such as Jito. While these derivative projects are important, if you ask about our main investment directions, it’s still Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Why Is Gold Rising?

Wilfred Frost:

Gold’s performance this year has obviously been outstanding. Do you think the investment case for gold is now stronger than before? Compared to Bitcoin, what is your stance?

Cathie Wood:

We have not invested in gold, but that does not mean it is a bad investment. It’s just that gold does not fit the technology innovation sector we focus on. We are more interested in disruptive innovation driven by technology. However, from an economics perspective, I always take gold’s market performance seriously. Usually, a rise in gold signals the arrival of inflation, but this time things seem different.

We have been monitoring an indicator called the metals-to-gold index, which measures the ratio of metal prices to gold prices. Currently, this ratio has dropped below 0.8 to 0.9. This worries me, as there may be deeper reasons behind it. It may be related to China’s economic situation. They are still experiencing a deflationary adjustment caused by real estate speculation. In addition, I think this rise in gold is more influenced by geopolitical risks.

For example, the H-1B visa policy chaos that occurred last Friday night. This made many people uneasy, especially foreign students from India and China and their parents, who may worry: “What will happen next?” Personally, I think this is just a negotiation issue between the US and India, and it will eventually be resolved. After all, the US does not want to lose top talent from around the world, even though current rhetoric may be worrying. But in such cases, the news media widely reports these events, and people start to think: “How should I respond?” Some wealthier investors, especially the older generation, may choose to move funds into gold rather than digital assets.