Bitcoin Billionaires: Who is Cathie Wood?
Cathie Wood, a known Bitcoin mogul, has been in the news recently, and it isn’t for a good reason. But who is Cathie Wood? How did she first become involved in cryptocurrency?
Whether you are familiar with some of the most famous Bitcoin holders or not, keep reading to learn more about Cathie Wood and her ARK product.
Who is Cathie Wood?
Cathie Wood is an American investor most well-known for her large number of early Bitcoin investments. Because she entered the market so early, she quickly amassed a fortune as the value of Bitcoin increased. But outside of the cryptocurrency world, she is also known for an ETF with the trading symbol ARK.
Cathie Wood was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1955 to parents who were Irish immigrants. She holds degrees in both finance and economics and has been mentored by the famed economist Arthur Laffer. She later went to work for hedge funds on Wall Street gaining attention when she was associated with AllianceBernstein during the 2008 financial crisis.
She formed her company; ARK Invest in 2014 after leaving AllianceBernstein. Her ARK ETF, while originally well-performing, entered free-fall in 2021 and 2022, and struggled to recover ever since.
According to her statements, Cathie Wood holds 25% of her impressive net worth in Bitcoin.
What is Ark Invest?
Ark Invest is a hedge fund headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. Ark Invest focuses on ETFs, and managed an impressive $50 billion USD shortly after launch. Unfortunately, the rough financial years of 2021 and 2022 ate into profits and scared many investors away. Currently, Ark manages only $20 billion in assets.
Ark Invest was named by Cathie, who is currently acting CEO and CFO, as she is a devout Christian and aimed to name her business after something that couldn’t be refuted. In the end, she chose the ark of the covenant, but just adopted the first word in the prominent phrase.
What Does Ark Have to Do With Cryptocurrency?
Though Cathie Wood is known for her Bitcoin investments, Ark Investments only deals in fiat—for now. However, Ark made the news when they took part in the Circle IPO. For those who aren’t familiar, Circle is the company that purchased the USDC stablecoin. In the time since their initial purchase, they have worked to expand their offerings in preparation for eventually going public.
The creators behind Circle believe that their payment platform could be the next step forward in digital payments. Unlike Tether(XRP), Circle meets regulatory requirements both in the United States and in Europe, setting them up for future success. Circle is currently partnered with Coinbase, and they share the proceeds from the platform.
Why is Ark Investments in the News?
As we mentioned above Ark purchased a large portion of Circle (CRCL) token during the IPO stage. The IPO stage ended in May 2025, and opened for public sales on June 6th, 2025. There was historic interest in both the IPO and the public sales due to the US passing of the GENIUS Act on June 17th, 2025.
However, here is why they are in the news—Ark has begun to offload a large portion of its shares. We aren’t talking just a few tokens, but rather 642,766, a whopping 14% of the 49 million tokens they purchased during the IPO. And Ark isn’t the only one. Jeremy Allaire, the CEO, Sean Neville, the former CEO, and Jeremy Fox-Green were also selling, with their combined shares accounting for 11% of their holdings.
This has made the news as this is a massive sell-off so soon after going public and it has raised several red flags in the financial industry.
Why is Everyone Selling CRCL?
When massive amounts of a certain token are dumped in the market like this, it is typically because these financial kingpins know something that the average investor doesn’t, and because they are trying to make money before the project crashes and burns. While these large number of sales doesn’t necessarily mean that CRCL is going to trash and burn, it is a cause for alarm and should have you rethinking your investment.
When we investigated, we found that there were several concerns with how CRCL makes its money. Because CRCL only trades stablecoins, which are fiat-backed funds, they depend heavily on interest from bonds or lent funds in a way that other cryptocurrencies don’t. In fact, we found that 99% of Circle’s income was from interest on stablecoin reserves.
This is, of course, a risky model that can vary widely depending on the state of the economy. So, while no one is raising the alarm just yet, we suspect that there are some macroeconomic concerns with the token that many of the IPO investors are just now realizing.
Should You Buy Ark Investments?
Currently, Ark Investments, run by Cathie Wood, is one of the least successful ETFs available. Although they trade both publicly and privately, unless you are comfortable with a high level of risk, we recommend starting with a different investment.
It is important to note that there are a variety of Ark funds available for trade on traditional markets, and you should evaluate each product separately before deciding whether or not it is for you.
Should You Buy Circle?
Due to the news and the large number of shares being sold, we have major apprehensions about Circle. It is never a good thing when a large number of individuals move to sell an asset even while the news sings its praises. It means that there is likely something behind the scenes going on that we don’t know about, and that any potential investor should proceed with caution.
Overall, Cathie Wood is well known both for her statements on cryptocurrency and her hedge fund, Ark Investments. She had also been in the news recently for her Circle investments, and the fact that her company has offloaded a large portion of them in recent days. We recommend caution when approaching an investment in Ark Financial Products or Circle.
