Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood has trimmed her most bullish forecast for bitcoin, acknowledging that the rapid rise of stablecoins is taking on a role she once thought bitcoin would fill. “Stablecoins are usurping part of the role that we thought bitcoin would play,” Wood said Thursday on CNBC’s ” Squawk Box .” “So our bullish forecast out there is $1.5 million by 2030. Given what’s happening to stablecoins, which are serving emerging markets in a way that we thought bitcoin would, I think we could take maybe $300,000 off of that bullish case just for stablecoins. So watch that space. Stablecoins are scaling here much faster than anyone would have expected.” Wood’s comments mark a notable adjustment to her long-term view on bitcoin, which has been one of the highest-profile bullish forecasts in the industry. Ark Invest has long argued that bitcoin could serve as both a store of value and a global settlement system, but Wood now sees stablecoins — digital tokens pegged to traditional currencies — encroaching on some of that functionality. “Emerging markets are huge in this regard,” she said. “We’re starting to see institutions in the United States focused on new payment rails, with stablecoins at the core. So very interesting movement.” Earlier this week, bitcoin dipped below $100,000 for the first time in more than four months amid a broad …
