Cathie Wood Dismisses AI Bubble Fears, Labels Gold's Surge as the 'Real' Market Excess
As gold prices soared to unprecedented heights this week, a prominent voice in the tech investment world issued a stark warning: the real bubble isn't in artificial intelligence, but in the ancient haven of gold. Cathie Wood, founder and CEO of ARK Invest, took to social media to challenge prevailing market narratives, redirecting scrutiny toward the precious metal's meteoric rise.
Wood's comments came on Thursday as gold futures briefly eclipsed $5,600 per ounce, a record that also saw gold's value reach an all-time high as a percentage of the U.S. M2 money supply. "Odds are high that the gold price is heading for a fall," Wood stated in a post on X. "While parabolic moves often take asset prices higher than most investors would think possible, the out-of-this-world spikes tend to occur at the end of a cycle. In our view, the bubble today is not in AI, but in gold."
Her timing proved prescient. By Friday, gold had tumbled nearly 9% to around $4,861 an ounce, with silver experiencing an even more dramatic collapse of over 27%. The swift reversal lends credence to Wood's long-held skepticism of gold as a modern store of value, a position she contrasts sharply with her enthusiasm for Bitcoin.
In ARK's 2026 Big Ideas outlook, Wood elaborated that Bitcoin's algorithmically constrained supply—increasing at roughly 0.82% annually—makes it a structurally superior scarce asset. "Gold miners, by boosting production of gold, can do something not possible with Bitcoin," she wrote. Wood has previously projected Bitcoin could reach $1.2 million by 2030, a forecast underpinned by ARK's significant holdings in crypto-related equities like Coinbase and its own spot Bitcoin ETF (ARKB).
While pinpointing gold's volatility, Wood remains conspicuously optimistic on AI. She expressed being "reassured" by comparisons between current AI investment fervor and the dot-com bubble, arguing the underlying fundamentals are distinctly different. "The fact that so many people are worried... actually reassures me," Wood said on a recent ARK podcast. This stance persists despite signs of investor jitters elsewhere, such as Microsoft's stock dipping on concerns over aggressive AI-related capital expenditure.
The dramatic divergence in asset performance—with gold and silver cratering while Bitcoin held relatively steady—has ignited fierce debate among market observers.
Marcus Chen, Portfolio Manager at Horizon Capital: "Wood is correctly identifying a momentum-driven excess in gold, driven more by macro anxiety than fundamentals. Her structural argument for Bitcoin over gold is compelling for the long-term, but calling a top is always perilous."
Dr. Rebecca Shaw, Economic Historian: "This is a classic case of narrative-driven investing. Gold has been a crisis hedge for millennia. To dismiss its role entirely while advocating for a 15-year-old digital asset shows a profound recency bias. Both assets can coexist and serve different portfolio purposes."
Jake Torrino, Independent Market Commentator: "It's pure hypocrisy. Wood is blowing the whistle on a gold 'bubble' while her firm is utterly immersed in promoting its own crypto bubble. ARK's massive bets on Coinbase and its own ETF create a glaring conflict of interest. This isn't analysis; it's product marketing."
Priya Mehta, Fintech Analyst at Vantage Point Strategies: "The real story is the asset allocation shift. Whether you agree with her or not, Wood is forcing a conversation about what 'scarcity' means in a digital age. The volatility we're seeing is a direct result of these competing paradigms clashing."