Cathie Wood: El Salvador's Bitcoin and AI plans could boost GDP tenfold

Not only the Bitcoin price, but El Salvador's GDP could increase tenfold. So says Cathie Wood after meeting with Bukele.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador met with Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest. Their conversation was about the potential of Bitcoin to improve capital markets, AI and the promotion of technological innovation.

On a Twitter post of the Bitcoin Office both pose with Arthur Laffer, an American economist known for the Laffer Curve named after him. Tax policy was therefore a topic of conversation.

"President Bukele's determination to turn El Salvador into an oasis for the Bitcoin and AI community [...] is why I believe the country's real GDP can grow tenfold in the next five years," explains Cathie Wood optimistic outlook.

Star investor Wood is known for her bold predictions. In March she still announced that Bitcoin would reach a price of more than a million dollars by 2030.

According to the latest World Bank data El Salvador's gross domestic product in 2022 was $32.4 billion, an increase of more than 30 percent since Bukele took office in June 2019. For Cathie Wood, of course, this is just the beginning.

El Salvador currently owns 5,764 Bitcoin worth nearly US$400 million. Relative to the average purchase price, this represents a fiat return of 58 percent.

Wood cites Bitcoin and artificial intelligence "two of the greatest economic and technological revolutions in history." Tech giant Alphabet recently opened a branch in El Salvador.

Bukule's positive attitude toward Bitcoin has also recently attracted interest from neighboring countries, as evidenced by the recent exchange with an Argentine commission.