Could Holding 6 (ETH) Still Make You a Millionaire? Cathie Wood's Ether ETF Pullback And Her $20 Trillion Market Cap Prediction

Earlier in the year, Bitcoin dominated financial headlines thanks to its recent halving and the emergence of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) boosting its demand. However, Cathie Wood of Ark Invest made a bullish prediction that Ethereum (ETH) may soon catch up to Bitcoin and potentially offer investors significant returns in the years ahead.

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Speaking at Big Ideas, an investor conference hosted by Ark Invest, Wood shared her optimistic outlook on Ethereum. She projected that Ethereum’s market capitalization could soar to $20 trillion by 2032. Given Ethereum’s current supply of approximately 122 million tokens, this projection translates to a staggering per-token price of over $166,000. Moreover, since the Ethereum Foundation continues implementing token burns, this price could rise even further.

At the hypothetical price of $164,000 per token, holding six ETH would equate to a value of just under $1 million. In comparison, the current price for six ETHs is roughly $21,000. To put this into perspective, the total market capitalization of the S&P 500 is approximately $40 trillion, while the global value of above-ground gold reserves is estimated at around $16 trillion. While reaching a $20 trillion market cap is theoretically possible for Ethereum, such a milestone is likely far off, if it happens at all.

Wood’s optimistic forecast is primarily grounded in Ethereum’s potential for mainstream adoption. Today, Ethereum is mainly used to interact with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications, which offer services ranging from borrowing and lending to storing health records. 

However, in 2024, DeFi remains predominantly focused on small-scale financial platforms. Wood argues that if Ethereum can expand its use cases to provide substantial user benefits, broader adoption could follow, potentially driving up the token’s price.

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Wood’s projection, while ambitious, may partly be intended to generate excitement among investors about Ethereum’s future. Despite the optimism, her forecast might not materialize as predicted. It’s crucial to note that Wood has a vested interest in Ethereum’s success. Ark Invest, her firm, already offers an Ethereum futures ETF (ARKZ). 

However, it was reported by Bloomberg that Ark Investment withdrew from issuing an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). Previously, Ark had submitted an application for a spot in Ether ETF in partnership with 21Shares, but Ark’s name has now been removed from the filing. Despite this withdrawal, Ark’s official statement emphasized the company’s continued belief in Ethereum's transformative potential and long-term value. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas suggested that the decision might have been influenced by the ongoing "fees war" in the market, which complicates profitability for issuers.

Though many believed that the introduction of spot Ethereum ETFs would bring a boost to ETH prices, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made a surprising move to approve the sale of spot Ether ETFs last month, ETH continued to slump, nearly dipping under $3,000 per token earlier this month. We've seen an incredible bounce back earlier this week, peaking at nearly $4,000 before hovering at $3,500 again.

An increase in Ethereum’s trading volume would benefit Wood, particularly in relation to Ark Invest’s financial products. Despite this potential conflict of interest, many investors remain optimistic about ETH’s future. As cryptocurrency adoption continues to grow and the possibility of spot Ethereum ETFs looms, there is considerable potential for ETH to achieve new price milestones.

This story was previously published on Benzinga and has been updated.

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