Cathie Wood Sees 10-Fold GDP Growth in El Salvador With Bitcoin and AI Push

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, believes El Salvador's economy could grow 10-fold in the next five years if it continues to embrace Bitcoin (BTC) and artificial intelligence (AI) under President Nayib Bukele's leadership. Wood met with Bukele to discuss integrating Bitcoin into capital markets and the implications of AI. An advisor to Bukele, Max Keiser, noted that Wood provided detailed projections indicating that El Salvador's GDP could rise to $300 billion by 2029. El Salvador has already made significant progress under Bukele's administration, with GDP growing over 30% since he took office in 2019. The country has also taken bold moves to promote economic growth, such as making Bitcoin legal tender, eliminating taxes on tech innovations, and removing income tax for foreign investments. However, Bitcoin adoption among El Salvador's local population has faced challenges. Still, a resurgence in merchant adoption of Bitcoin, spurred by its rising price, has been observed.