Wood's forecast was lowered due to the rapid rise of stablecoins as a key factor reshaping Bitcoin’s role in global finance. She pointed out that dollar-pegged tokens are quickly becoming the preferred store of value in emerging markets facing inflation and currency instability. While Wood is still bullish on Bitcoin as a digital store of value similar to gold, she acknowledged that stablecoins are filling a growing need for liquidity and stability. Stablecoins Challenge Bitcoin Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, trimmed her long-term Bitcoin price forecast by $300,000, and pointed to the rapid rise of stablecoins in emerging markets as a major factor reshaping Bitcoin’s role in the global financial landscape. Speaking to CNBC on Thursday, Wood explained that she now expects Bitcoin to reach around $1.2 million by 2030, which is down from her earlier $1.5 million projection. She lowered her projection due to the growing dominance of stablecoins as a preferred store of value and medium of exchange in developing economies. “Stablecoins are usurping part of the role that we thought Bitcoin would play,” Wood said, and explained that dollar-pegged tokens are scaling faster than many analysts anticipated. Still, she reiterated her bullish outlook on Bitcoin, and described it as a “global monetary system” and a distinct form of digital gold, while stablecoins are “just cash tokenized on a blockchain.” Her comments were made during a broader trend where emerging market economies are turning to stablecoins to hedge against local currency instability, hyperinflation, and restrictive monetary policies. According to Standard Chartered, stablecoins could drain over $1 trillion from the traditional banking system in emerging markets by 2028, as residents opt for dollar-pegged digital assets over local fiat. Countries like Venezuela and Argentina have become hotspots for this shift. Venezuela is grappling with inflation rates as high as 269% in 2025, and saw widespread adoption of stablecoins like Tether’s USDT as an alternative to both the bolivar and physical US dollars. Meanwhile, strict currency controls and limited access to foreign exchange drive citizens to rely on blockchain-based assets for savings and international transactions. (Source: Chainalysis) Reports in 2024 even suggested that the Venezuelan government used stablecoins to circumvent US sanctions and conduct oil trades. Despite Bitcoin’s slightly lowered forecast, Wood’s stance proves that Bitcoin continues to hold its position as a store of value, while stablecoins increasingly fill the demand for stability and liquidity in regions that are most affected by economic volatility.
