Cathie Wood, founder of ARK Investment Management LLC, predicts a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) will follow Donald Trump’s election and expects it to “support innovative strategies.”
In a Bloomberg interview, Wood said that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) changes could ease regulatory barriers previously imposed that stifled M&As.
Wood also reaffirmed her stance on Bitcoin (BTC), anticipating the cryptocurrency surpassing $1 million by 2030 and attributing the bullish sentiment to BTC’s fixed supply and scarcity compared to gold.
With high expectations for the upcoming Trump administration, Wood foresees a dual impact resulting in a boom for M&A among tech startups and a potential parabolic price movement driven by reduced regulatory friction.
Regulatory shifts and growth implications
Wood projected that a wave of startup M&As will follow Trump’s election victory, predicting a rollback of regulatory barriers hindering private-company buyouts.
“M&A has been prevented by the FTC. That is going to change,” she said when speaking on Bloomberg Television. Adding that, “deregulation [is] critically important.”
According to the ARK Investment CEO, Trump’s administration will likely create a more business-friendly environment, benefiting venture-backed startups seeking acquisition opportunities.
She anticipates a resurgence in “liquidity events” as buyers reenter the market without previous regulatory constraints, allowing the market to engage more transparently and freely in price discovery for new companies.
Bitcoin price optimism
Wood also reiterated her optimistic outlook for BTC price, maintaining her prediction that the cryptocurrency could exceed $1 million by 2030 — having surged beyond $108,000 this year.
Fuelled by institutional interest, such as through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and due to its limited supply, Wood said that BTC “is becoming even more scarce than gold.”
She compared gold and BTC, stating that when gold price increases, production goes up, as does the rate of increase in the supply of gold — a factor that “can not happen with Bitcoin.”
The crypto market is still early
The ARK Investment CEO took to X on Dec. 5, congratulating the crypto industry in the United States after Trump nominated pro-crypto Paul Atkins to replace the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler.
Wood said that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell previously described BTC as a digital version of gold, which aligns with the CEO’s positive outlook that the crypto market is still in the “early innings.”
Comparing BTC to gold on Dec. 5, Wood weighed gold’s $15 trillion market against BTC’s $2 trillion market, suggesting significant potential for growth for the cryptocurrency.
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