ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said she believes bitcoin is nearing the end of its current down cycle, arguing that the asset’s latest four-year drawdown will likely be the shallowest in its history.
“We’re pretty well through the down cycle here,” Wood said in a CNBC interview, pushing back against fears that bitcoin still faces a prolonged correction. She noted that the most recent bull market was muted by historical standards, which she believes has limited the severity of the current pullback.
“I know there’s a lot of fear about the four-year cycle,” Wood said. “We didn’t have much of an upcycle by bitcoin standards, so we think we’re pretty well through the down cycle here.”
Wood acknowledged that bitcoin could continue to test key psychological levels in the near term, potentially trading within an $80,000 to $90,000 range. However, she said ARK expects those levels to hold.
“We may test in this $80,000 to $90,000 range on bitcoin, but we do think that the test will be successful,” she said.
According to Wood, the current market environment reflects a maturing asset rather than structural weakness. She described the present drawdown as “the shallowest four-year cycle decline in bitcoin’s short history,” adding that ARK expects renewed upside once the correction fully plays out.
“And then we’re off again,” she said.
Wood framed bitcoin’s long-term thesis as extending far beyond short-term price cycles, describing it as “three revolutions in one”: a new global, rules-based monetary system competing with fiat currencies, a breakthrough technology, and the leading asset in a new asset class.
“It is a technology revolution,” Wood said, “and it is the leader of a new asset class.”
Recent Bitcoin price action
Bitcoin saw a lot of intraday volatility today, swinging thousands of dollars as markets reacted to fresh geopolitical headlines from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The price surged from the $88,000 range in early morning hours to $90,500, slid back into the upper $87,000s, and then rebounded toward $90,000 following Trump’s announcement that he would delay planned tariffs.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the decision followed what he described as a “very productive meeting” with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, outlining a preliminary framework for a broader deal involving Greenland and the Arctic region.
Citing the talks, Trump said tariffs scheduled to take effect on February 1 would not be imposed, easing near-term trade concerns and helping lift risk assets, including bitcoin, back toward key psychological levels.