While Bitcoin achieved a historic milestone by crossing the $100,000 price threshold on December 5, it was stated that the cryptocurrency is still in the “early stages”. ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said that the future of Bitcoin is bright and that it still has great potential even after BTC surpasses $100,000.

In a statement on X on December 5, Wood congratulated the industry on Donald Trump’s nomination of crypto friend Paul Atkins to replace Gary Gensler as head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

He also noted that US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell described Bitcoin as digital gold and touched on some comparisons between BTC and gold. ARK CEO examined the size of the Bitcoin market by comparing it with spot gold and emphasized that gold is a $15 trillion market at a price of $2,700 per ounce.

While Bitcoin is at $102,750 at the time of writing, its market value is calculated at approximately $2 trillion, which creates significant potential compared to gold’s $15 trillion market.

Noting Powell’s description of Bitcoin as “digital gold,” Wood implied that Bitcoin is conceptually bigger than gold, given Bitcoin’s digital and cross-border nature. Wood said:

“Indeed, ARK Invest believes Bitcoin is a much bigger idea than gold.”

In March 2024, Wood predicted that Bitcoin would surpass the $1 million level by 2023. While companies like Amazon took 29 years to reach a market cap of $2 trillion, Bitcoin became a $2 trillion asset in less than 16 years from the first BTC transaction in January 2009.

Apple, the second largest market after gold, took almost 42 years to reach a market value of $2 trillion for the first time in 2020.

It is stated that at its current price, Bitcoin accounts for 52.6% of the entire crypto market and its total market value is $ 3.9 trillion, according to CoinGecko. While Bitcoin reaching $100,000 and becoming a $2 trillion asset is a major financial milestone for the cryptocurrency market, it is no surprise, according to Tranchess co-founder Danny Chong.

“The proliferation of financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale and Bitcoin ETFs to be launched in 2024 have prepared the industry for this moment,” Chong said, adding:

“This price point is not just a number — it is a testament to Bitcoin’s growing legitimacy and acceptance into the mainstream.”