Where Will ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF Be in 5 Years?
The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF closely tracks the price of Bitcoin, but it's simpler to manage than direct crypto ownership.
Expert predictions for bitcoin's future range from explosive growth to utter skepticism.
None of the differences among top spot bitcoin ETFs are deal-breakers; small details may matter for your portfolio, though.
10 stocks we like better than Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF ›
The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKB) is almost the same thing as owning Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) directly. The exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a bit simpler to manage, since most stock-trading services can handle these funds. Crypto-trading functions are less common among traditional investing platforms.
So the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF will largely follow Bitcoin, wherever the oldest and largest cryptocurrency is going. But there are a couple of quirks in the ETF-based ownership, especially with a relatively small ETF like the ARK 21Shares option.
Bitcoin predictions are all over the map
First of all, many financial experts expect Bitcoin to move much higher by the year 2030.
This faction is led by Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) chairman and co-founder Michael Saylor, who expects the coin to "appreciate faster than any other asset" in the long run. His company still develops enterprise software, but largely sees itself as a Bitcoin bank these days, taking on debt and selling shares for the sole purpose of buying more cryptocurrency.
Fellow crypto bull Cathie Wood's ARK Invest also sees big gains ahead. Wood's research team recently raised their 2030 Bitcoin price target from $1.5 million to $2.4 million. Her company manages the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
There are also many economy experts who don't expect much of a Bitcoin boom. Investing legend Warren Buffett wouldn't buy all the Bitcoin in the world for $25, since the coin doesn't represent any actual products or services, for example. In this view, Bitcoin looks like a temporary fad without long-term value -- just another way to move money from one owner to another, with no actual value created along the way.
Then again, Buffett was never a big fan of investing in gold -- for similar reasons. If you see investable qualities in the idea of storing value for the long term, then you might be a Bitcoin or gold investor. Personally, I think it's time for an all-digital currency to replace the dollar (and other old-school currencies) in many ways. Bitcoin must upgrade its encryption technology in order to stay ahead of the quantum computing threat, but otherwise, it looks ready to take on this role.
Why you might prefer an ETF over "real" Bitcoin holdings
Since you're still reading, you might want to give Bitcoin a shot after all. In that case, why buy a spot-price Bitcoin ETF instead of the real thing? There are many reasons. Let me highlight a few of the more popular arguments in favor of a Bitcoin ETF:
The ETF is easier to handle in most cases. Trading an ETF is very similar to buying and selling ordinary stocks. You don't have to open a new account with a crypto-trading service, and even your retirement savings account could add crypto exposure with a simple ETF.
ETFs can do some nice accounting tricks that generally aren't available to crypto investors yet. For example, you can easily use a Bitcoin ETF for tax-loss harvesting when prices are down. I'd talk to a qualified accountant before trying anything like that in the crypto world.
Managing a crypto portfolio can quickly become a technical exercise. Should you rely on a central crypto-portfolio manager like Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) or Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD), or take direct ownership in a digital wallet with security keys? What happens if you lose those keys, or your chosen crypto exchange is hacked? The ETF route avoids most of these thorny technical issues.
How ARK 21Shares stacks up against a more popular option
Finally, there are nearly a dozen spot Bitcoin ETFs on the market today. What makes the ARK 21Shares fund stand out among this robust competition, led by the gigantic iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: IBIT)?
You can't really go wrong with the leading iShares ETF, which offers unmatched liquidity and a familiar brand name. However, the ARK 21Shares fund comes with a couple of unique details:
Thanks to a different structure of shares issued per Bitcoin under management, the ARK 21Shares ETF trades at a lower share price. This gives investors more granular control over the amount of money they're putting into their Bitcoin ETF position. Each iShares ETF share represents roughly 0.000575 Bitcoins at the moment, and a share of the ARK 21Shares fund accounts for 0.000332 Bitcoins. If those fractions are hard to follow, you can think of them as 57,500 and 33,200 Satoshis (CRYPTO: SATS) instead. 100 million Satoshis equal one Bitcoin.
iShares is a pretty faceless entity, controlled by financial services giant Blackrock (NYSE: BLK). The ARK Invest fund family is associated with famous growth investor Cathie Wood, who often explains her Bitcoin thinking in TV interviews and blog posts.
The fees are slightly different, too. The iShares ETF's annual expense ratio is set to 0.25%, while the ARK 21Shares option carries a lower fee of 0.21%.
Again, none of these differences are absolute game-changers or deal-breakers. Still, they are qualities you might consider before taking the plunge into the ETF-based Bitcoin waters.
All things considered, the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF will follow Bitcoin's price trends very faithfully over the next five years. The period includes another halving of Bitcoin mining rewards in 2028, and the quantum computing threat is many years away from becoming a real concern.
In other words, I think this ETF will gain value over the next half-decade (but Warren Buffett is still not convinced).
Should you invest $1,000 in Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF right now?
Before you buy stock in Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!*
Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
28 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Billionaire Bill Ackman Has 14% of His Hedge Fund in 1 AI Stock That's Up 6,930%
Key Points Bill Ackman's hedge fund, Pershing Square Capital Management, has made a successful bet on this leading AI enterprise. With access to massive amounts of data, incredibly popular products and services, and unmatched financial resources, this business will remain in a position of power. Despite very favorable characteristics, investors can buy shares at a discount to the S&P 500. 10 stocks we like better than Alphabet › Billionaire Bill Ackman, who follows an investment philosophy similar to Warren Buffett, has exposure in his Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund to the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That might go against his firm's usual focus of buying retail-based businesses. But since this particular company had its initial public offering in 2004, shares have risen 6,930% (as of July 9). Had you made a $1,000 investment in this top AI stock back then, you'd have about $70,000 today. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Continue reading to learn what business this is and whether or not it should be in your portfolio. Already a leader in AI Through both Class A and Class C shares, Pershing Square had 14% of its assets (as of March 31) in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG). The hedge fund first purchased the stock in the first quarter of 2023, at a time when the company was losing investor interest as OpenAI's ChatGPT became the talk of the town. There were concerns Alphabet had already lost the AI race. But in typical fashion, being greedy when others are fearful, Ackman became an Alphabet shareholder. The billionaire highlighted many of the company's favorable qualities as they relate to AI. Pershing Square called out Google's distribution advantage, with the habits consumers have of using Alphabet's products and services. The business also has unrivaled data to train AI models on. And Alphabet has been at the forefront of AI for several years, not just hopping on the bandwagon recently like many others have. More than two years since Ackman bought the stock, Alphabet remains a power player in the AI world. It has a leading family of models in Gemini. Its crown jewel, Google Search, has an AI Overviews feature that now has 1.5 billion monthly users. And the Google Cloud Platform offers a long list of AI tools to clients, which should register strong demand. "All 15 of our products with a half a billion users now use Gemini models," CEO Sundar Pichai said on the first-quarter 2025 earnings call. But perhaps most importantly, Alphabet has the financial resources to stay ahead. Management plans to spend $75 billion on capital expenditures this year. That's a lot of money. However, when the business generates tens of billions of dollars in net income each quarter, having large capital expenditures is easy. There is certainly a lot of hype surrounding the AI craze. Some forecasters think this technology will completely upend entire industries, drastically cut jobs, and/or provide a substantial boost to economic productivity. It's really anyone's guess what the long-term implications will be. Things will take time to play out. But here's why Alphabet is in such an enviable position. Even before AI started getting all the attention, Alphabet already had some of the most popular and widely used internet properties on the face of the planet. Management is simply leveraging AI to better serve users, which is a smart strategic decision regardless of how you view this technology's future. Shares are trading at a discount to the market Despite Alphabet's powerful position in the tech world, especially when it comes to AI, the market still doesn't fully appreciate the company. Maybe there are still worries about how AI will ultimately impact Google Search, the company's top moneymaker. Additionally, Alphabet remains in the crosshairs of regulatory bodies, adding uncertainty to the mix. The stock currently trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.8, reflecting some level of pessimism. That's significantly below its trailing-five-year average of 25.5. And it shows that shares are selling at a multiple that's much cheaper than that of the overall S&P 500 index. Investors have the chance to buy an AI leader at a discount today. Should you invest $1,000 in Alphabet right now? Before you buy stock in Alphabet, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Alphabet wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Globe and Mail
28 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
2 Phenomenal AI Stocks That Can Create Generational Wealth
Key Points Nvidia's growth from AI data centers is far from over. Taiwan Semiconductor is a key supplier in the AI race. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › "Generational wealth" is a lucrative term for many investors. While it's nice to set yourself up for retirement, it's even better to leave your family and other loved ones a substantial amount of money that would significantly improve their lives as well. Many investors may be searching for the next stock that can achieve returns by a multiple of 100 to set up their families, but often it's the stocks that consistently deliver market-beating returns that can truly produce generational wealth. The long-term return for the market is around 10% per year. Let's say you can beat that return by a few percentage points -- call it 13% per year. If you start with $1 million, a 10% return transforms that into $17.5 million over 30 years. However, the 13% return translates to $39.1 million. That's a huge difference and underscores why beating the market by just a few percentage points each year is more important than finding the next 100-bagger. I have two stocks that I believe can deliver this level of outperformance over the next few years: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE: TSM). Both of these are huge beneficiaries of the buildout of AI computing capacity and have tremendous tailwinds in their favor. Nvidia Both Nvidia and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC for short) have benefited from the massive amount of AI spending going on. Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the industry standard for training and running AI models, despite numerous alternatives claiming they can do it better and cheaper. The reality is that its products are extremely flexible and can be used in multiple ways, whereas some of the alternatives that haven't caught on yet are focused on a single workload type. While the company experienced a growth setback in China due to the Trump Administration's change in export restrictions (which differed from the restrictions by the Biden Administration), Europe could fill the gap left in Nvidia's results. And domestically, it still has a ton of growth left, as AI hyperscalers are spending a record amount on data centers this year. That trend is likely to continue, according to a third-party estimate quoted by Nvidia that 2024's data center capital expenditures (capex) were $400 billion. However, they project that figure to rise to $1 trillion by 2028. Considering that the company generated $115 billion from data center sales in fiscal 2025 (encompassing most of 2024), this indicates that it captures around 29% of all such spending. Even if its market share fell to 20% and capex still hit $1 trillion, Nvidia would generate $200 billion in data center revenue by 2028. That indicates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 15%, far exceeding the mark necessary to surpass the market. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing With all of the various competitors in the AI race, few of them have internal capabilities to produce chips. That work is farmed out to a handful of semiconductor foundries, with TSMC being the leader by far. Nvidia and many other notable names are its clients, and it has won this work through its constant innovation and by delivering unmatched production yields. And with TSMC's position within the industry, management has an excellent view into what the future holds. Chip orders are often placed years in advance, giving management clarity about demand. Over the next five years, it projects AI-related revenue will have a 45% CAGR. And since TSMC supports a wide range of industries beyond AI, its overall revenue CAGR is expected to reach nearly 20% over the next five years. That's still far greater than the stock market's 10% average annual return, making the company an excellent candidate to produce generational wealth. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Nvidia, investors should keep a close eye on their growth as we approach the end of the AI buildout cycle. This could cause them to lose their ability to reliably beat the market. However, we have barely scratched the surface of what's necessary for an AI-first world, and that could cause these two to soar for many years to come. Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now? Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025
Globe and Mail
28 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
President Donald Trump Delivers More Tariff News for Stock Market Investors
The president spent this week ramping up his threats while extending the deadline by which the higher tariffs will start to be collected. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » *Stock prices used were the afternoon prices of July 11, 2025. The video was published on July 13, 2025. Should you invest $1,000 in Invesco QQQ Trust right now? Before you buy stock in Invesco QQQ Trust, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Invesco QQQ Trust wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $671,477!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,010,880!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor 's total average return is1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to180%for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 7, 2025 Parkev Tatevosian, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Parkev Tatevosian is an affiliate of The Motley Fool and may be compensated for promoting its services. If you choose to subscribe through his link, he will earn some extra money that supports his channel. His opinions remain his own and are unaffected by The Motley Fool.
