Cathie Wood stands by $1.5M Bitcoin prediction despite ETF outflows: Finance Redefined

Crypto investor sentiment continues to be pressured by global trade tensions between the United States and China, which resulted in nearly $500 million worth of outflows within three days, reinforcing analyst expectations of a forthcoming market bottom.

Despite some gloomy investor sentiment, ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood remains optimistic about Bitcoin’s trajectory to over $1.5 million by 2030, driven by continuing institutional adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin price may reach $1.5 million by 2030 — Cathie Wood

Bitcoin’s chances of reaching $1.5 million are improving as institutional investors increase their exposure to digital assets, according to ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood.

Bitcoin (BTC) has been trading under the key $100,000 level since Feb. 4, as investor sentiment has been pressured by global trade war concerns following import tariffs announced by the US and China.

Despite the temporary market slump, Bitcoin’s odds of surpassing $1.5 million a coin have increased, according to Wood. 

“Many people know us for our [Bitcoin] bull case, $1.5 million,” said Wood during a video published on Feb. 11, adding:

“We actually think the odds have gone up that our bull case will be the right number because of what is becoming the institutionalization of this new asset class.”

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Bitcoin retail, ETF outflows mount to $494 million; analysts eye market bottom

Retail investors are increasingly liquidating their Bitcoin holdings amid increasing institutional outflows and global geopolitical tensions.

The number of Bitcoin (BTC) addresses with a non-zero balance sank below 52.5 million, marking a five-month low last seen in September 2024, Glassnode data shows.

In comparison, the Bitcoin network boasted over 52.6 million such wallets on Jan. 20, when Bitcoin reached an all-time high of $109,000, Cointelegraph Markets Pro data shows.

However, most selling pressure stemmed from the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $251 million of cumulative net outflows on Feb. 12, marking the third consecutive day of net negative outflows, amounting to $494 million, Farside Investors data shows.

Still, some analysts say the crypto market is setting up for a reversal, based on growing accumulation among large Bitcoin holders known as whales.

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Binance co-founder clarifies token listing process amid TST controversy

A Binance co-founder addressed concerns over the exchange’s token-listing criteria following the rapid rise and fall of the Test (TST) token, which briefly reached a $500-million market capitalization.

Most retail cryptocurrency investors allocate capital through centralized exchanges (CEXs) like Binance and Coinbase, with CEX-listed tokens getting significant attention and high investor demand.

The most important criterion for a token listing is its return on investment (ROI), which is calculated by comparing its first-day average price to quarterly performance across other CEXs, Yi He, co-founder of Binance, told Colin Wu in an interview published on Feb. 10.

Binance’s second benchmark is the project’s ability to bring innovation and new users to the industry that may “evolve into dedicated blockchain users over time.”

The third and final criterion, involving “high-profile projects with significant market buzz and valuations,” examines a token’s market performance on other major exchanges.

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Ethereum TVL approaches three-year high — Will ETH price follow?

Ether’s (ETH) price has declined by 21% since Jan. 31, struggling to stay above $2,800 over the past week. Investor sentiment has weakened amid this underperformance, exacerbated by a 12% decline in the total cryptocurrency market capitalization over the same period.

Bulls continue to place their hopes on Ethereum’s dominance in total value locked (TVL), especially after the metric climbed to its highest level since 2022. Still, increased deposits don’t necessarily indicate higher network activity or greater transaction fee generation. 

TVL measures the value of assets deposited in smart contracts across various applications, including liquid staking, lending protocols, decentralized exchanges, yield farming platforms, crosschain bridges, tokenized assets and privacy mixers. Ethereum’s TVL reached 21.8 million ETH on Feb. 11, marking its highest level since October 2022. According to DefiLlama data, this represents an 11% increase over the previous month.

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Lido v3 debuts institutional staking upgrade as US awaits staked ETH ETF

Lido, the largest liquid staking protocol, has introduced Lido v3, an upgrade designed to offer greater flexibility and composability for institutional Ether (ETH) stakers.

The update features stVaults, modular smart contracts that allow institutions to tailor staking setups, ensuring compliance and operational control, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.

Lido v3 is “a major lead forward for Ethereum staking,” according to Konstantin Lomashuk, a founding contributor at Lido protocol.

“A significant percentage of Lido’s TVL already comes from institutions, and demand is only growing,” Lomashuk told Cointelegraph, adding:

“Lido v3, with stVaults at its core, is built to meet this need — giving institutions more control, flexibility and direct access to tailored staking setups.”

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

The PancakeSwap (CAKE) token rose over 95% as the week’s biggest gainer, followed by the Kaspa (KAS) token, up 26% over the past week.

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.