After boasting last month that the Ark Fund’s compound annual return over the next five years could reach 40%, Cathie Wood, founder of Ark Investments, recently made another potentially controversial remark. This time it’s about El Salvador’s bitcoin investment, saying it’s an example of how innovation is improving people’s lives.
El Salvador’s bitcoin investments are estimated to have lost around $10 million following the recent sharp drop in cryptocurrencies.
Asked in an interview over the weekend whether the financial industry contributed to wealth inequality, Wood said that in the long run, allocating capital to innovation would benefit people’s lives around the world.
She then referred to El Salvador, arguing that the bitcoin investment promoted by the country’s president, Nayib Bukele, offers the country’s citizens financial opportunities that were not previously available. She said:
“The President of El Salvador is giving every eligible adult $30 in Bitcoin. Before only about 1.2 million people had access to financial services. Now 3 million people have access to new banking and financial services. Thanks to block chain technology.”
Wood pointed out that through mobile phone technology, billions of people around the world already have access to financial services. She believes that this, combined with blockchain technology, will go a long way towards narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor. She said:
“So, in my opinion, the more money we allocate to innovation, the better we can improve the lives of people around the world.”