Key Takeaways
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Cathie Wood predicts President Trump could actively purchase Bitcoin for a U.S. Strategic Reserve in 2026.
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Despite trimming her prior forecast due to stablecoins, Wood maintains a long-term Bitcoin bull case of $1.2 million.
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Large-scale U.S. government purchases could influence liquidity and price.
U.S. President Donald Trump could begin actively buying Bitcoin (BTC) for a planned U.S. strategic reserve in 2026, Cathie Wood said on Thursday, arguing the move could align with political incentives ahead of the midterm elections.
Wood, the chief executive of Ark Invest, has maintained a long-term Bitcoin price target of up to $1.2 million, even after trimming earlier projections due to the rise of stablecoins.
Her latest comments raise questions about whether direct U.S. government purchases, if beginning this year, could be a catalyst for her future Bitcoin price valuation.
Speaking on a recent episode of the Bitcoin Brainstorm podcast, Wood said she believes Trump will seek to accelerate crypto-related initiatives ahead of the U.S. midterm elections to avoid becoming a “lame duck” President.
“So, I have a feeling that he is going to work with his crypto and AI czar to do a few things,” she said.
Those steps, she said, could include both regulatory changes and direct Bitcoin purchases.
Wood said the administration has so far shown hesitation in executing the original vision for a U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
“So far, it’s confiscated,” she said. “The original intent was to own a million Bitcoin.”
She added that Trump could reverse course for political and economic reasons.
“So I actually think they will start buying,” Wood said. “I think this will help Trump in a couple of ways.”
Wood argued that crypto voters played a meaningful role in Trump’s election victory and said that could influence policy decisions going forward.
“Part of the reason he won the presidency, I think, was the crypto community,” she said.
She also pointed to Trump’s personal and family exposure to digital assets.
“Another reason, of course, is his family is all in on Bitcoin and other crypto assets,” Wood said.
Wood’s comments come amid growing scrutiny over whether the U.S. government is following through on Trump’s executive order to preserve seized Bitcoin for a Strategic BTC Reserve.
Earlier this year, Trump signed an order directing federal agencies to halt the sale of Bitcoin obtained through criminal forfeiture and instead transfer those holdings into a national reserve.
However, recent reporting has raised concerns that some seized Bitcoin may have already been sold by the government.
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said she was “deeply concerned” by reports that Bitcoin linked to the high-profile Samurai Wallet settlement had been transferred to a Coinbase Prime account and possibly liquidated.
“Why is the U.S. gov[ernment] still liquidating Bitcoin when POTUS explicitly directed these assets be preserved for our Strategic Bitcoin Reserve?” Lummis wrote on social media.
According to an asset liquidation agreement cited in reports, more than 57 Bitcoin seized in the case — worth about $6.37 million at the time — were transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service.
On-chain data later showed the funds sent to a Coinbase Prime address that now shows a zero balance.
Despite near-term uncertainty around policy execution and adoption trends, Wood previously reiterated that Ark Invest remains firmly bullish on Bitcoin’s long-term price outlook.
Ark recently adjusted portions of its Bitcoin valuation model due to stablecoins growing faster than expected.
“Stablecoins are taking on one of the roles we thought that Bitcoin would play,” Wood said during a November webinar, describing them as an “insurance policy for emerging markets.”
Stablecoins, now approaching a $300 billion market size, have also become a “natural buyer for U.S. Treasury securities,” she said.
As a result, Ark reduced its assumptions around Bitcoin’s emerging-market safe-haven role.
“We cut them into 20% of what they were prior,” Puell said.
Despite the changes, Wood said Ark’s long-term bull case remains intact.
“Our bull price really hasn’t changed,” she said. “We’re still reiterating long-term bullishness here.”
Wood previously told CNBC that she had trimmed about $300,000 from Ark’s most optimistic Bitcoin’s forecast, lowering the bull-case target to $1.2 million.
However, in the recent podcast episode, Wood reaffirmed that Bitcoin’s “digital gold” role has likely offset the increased role of stablecoins.
Direct U.S. government purchases of bitcoin, if carried out at scale, would represent a significant expansion of sovereign involvement in the crypto market.
Unlike past accumulation, which has largely involved confiscated assets, open-market purchases would introduce a buyer that is not motivated by short-term profits.
The original pitch of the U.S. owning one million bitcoin, roughly 5% of the cryptocurrency’s fixed 21 million supply, would see a major impact on the price.
Even incremental purchases toward that level could affect liquidity.
However, whether these purchases could massively affect market prices remains to be seen.
In the near term, Bitcoin’s price remains range-bound, according to CCN analyst Victor Olanrewaju, who said technical indicators point to continued consolidation rather than a breakout.
On the daily chart, Bitcoin has traded between $85,592 and $93,681 since November, Olanrewaju said.
“Because price keeps bouncing inside that band, Bitcoin still lacks a clear directional bias,” he said.
If buying pressure strengthens and Bitcoin reclaims key moving averages, Olanrewaju said prices could move toward $102,796.
A breakdown below the lower end of the range, however, could open the door to a decline toward $80,633.
The post Donald Trump May Start Buying Bitcoin in 2026, Says Cathie Wood — Can Price Surge to Her $1.2 Million Target? appeared first on ccn.com.