Cathie Wood Sticks To $1.25M Bitcoin Price Target, Even As BTC Funds See Worst Week Of 2026

The CoinShares Head of Research said rising tensions with Iran and broader macro uncertainty outweighed optimism around crypto legislation.
Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest, gestures as she speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at Miami Beach Convention Center on April 7, 2022. (Photo by Marco Bello/Getty Images)
Cathie Wood, chief executive officer and chief investment officer, Ark Invest, gestures as she speaks during the Bitcoin 2022 Conference at Miami Beach Convention Center on April 7, 2022. (Photo by Marco Bello/Getty Images)
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Anushka Basu·Stocktwits
Published May 26, 2026   |   7:57 AM EDT
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  • Cathie Wood said on Monday that Bitcoin could reach $1.25 million within five years, while her bearish case still projected Bitcoin around $750,000.
  • Wood cited institutional adoption, stablecoin growth, and US crypto legislation as key long-term catalysts for Bitcoin.
  • CoinShares reported $1.32 billion in Bitcoin fund outflows last week, marking the largest weekly Bitcoin withdrawal of 2026.

Ark Invest’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Cathie Wood defended her long-term bullish outlook on Bitcoin (BTC) on Monday, arguing the cryptocurrency would eventually trade above $1 million within five years, calling the cryptocurrency an “insurance policy” against currency debasement.

But this bullish rhetoric came during one of Bitcoin’s weakest institutional flow periods of 2026. Crypto investment products saw nearly $1.5 billion in weekly outflows, including a record $1.32 billion pulled from Bitcoin funds alone, as geopolitical tensions tied to Iran and broader macro uncertainty weighed on investor sentiment. 

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Cathie Wood Reaffirms $1.25 Million Bitcoin Target

Speaking during a Fox Business interview, Wood, the Ark Invest Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and CEO, discussed her long-term Bitcoin price projections, saying Bitcoin could reach $1.25 million in the next five years. Wood said that while $1.25 million was the bullish case scenario, she expected Bitcoin to reach $750,000 under the bearish case. 

She further said Bitcoin is an “insurance policy” against currency debasement and that institutional adoption continued to accelerate despite ongoing market volatility.

Why Wood Says Bitcoin Still Has Massive Upside

Wood pointed to three major catalysts supporting Bitcoin’s long-term growth, including expanding institutional participation, rising stablecoin usage, and improving regulatory clarity in the United States.

Wood also highlighted progress on the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act, two crypto-related bills advancing through the Senate, while arguing that stablecoins like Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) and Tether’s USDT strengthen global demand for the US dollar because they are largely backed by dollar-denominated assets and Treasury holdings.

Bitcoin Funds Record Largest Weekly Outflows Of 2026

Despite Wood’s ‘bullish’ outlook, institutional flows moved sharply in the opposite direction. According to CoinShares Head of Research James Butterfill, Bitcoin investment products recorded nearly $1.32 billion in weekly outflows, marking the largest Bitcoin withdrawal of the year, surpassing the previous peak of $1.09 billion recorded in January.

Crypto asset investment products lost roughly $1.47 billion in total during the week, making it the third-worst week of the year for the funds overall, according to the report. The US accounted for nearly all withdrawals at roughly $1.425 billion, while Switzerland, Canada, and Hong Kong also shifted into negative territory. Butterfill said cumulative outflows over the past two weeks now stood at $2.54 billion, and that the Iran-related risk-off has deepened despite continued CLARITY Act progress.

US Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also remained under pressure. According to SoSoValue data, the products recorded $105 million in daily net outflows on Friday, extending the recent streak of withdrawals.

Bitcoin’s price was down by 0.1% during the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BTC remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed in the ‘high’ levels over the past day.

Read also: Ethereum Just Got Its Own ‘Clarity Act,’ Says ‘Ethereum Maxirealist’ William Mougayar

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