Cathie Wood, the founder, and CEO of the asset management firm ARK Invest, has issued a warning to investors amid a surge of memecoins circulating the BNB Chain. In a recent interview on Bloomberg Television, Wood cautioned that most of these memecoins (fueled by a blend of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence) will likely end up “worthless.”
Notably, data from DefiLlama reveals that the BNB Chain’s DEX records over $2.64 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours. This puts the network in top rank, surpassing Solana and Ethereum. The surge is primarily fueled by memecoin trading activity in its DeFi protocols like PancakeSwap.
Cathie Wood Criticizes Memecoins, Excluding TRUMP
While the total crypto market now exceeds $2.6 trillion, Wood noted that rapidly creating “millions” of memecoins does little to enhance real utility in the space.
“If I have one message for those listening who are buying memecoins: buyer beware,” she said.
According to Wood, the painful experience of losing money is expected to be the best teacher, especially since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators have yet to assume responsibility for overseeing or regulating these tokens.
While acknowledging that a few memecoins might eventually become “digital collectors’ items” capable of withstanding the test of time, she mentioned that TRUMP might be among them. Notably, the token created by President Trump surged to a peak market capitalization of over $14 billion shortly after its launch. The memecoin’s market is now valued at $2 billion.
Nonetheless, the CEO emphasized that her investment funds are steering clear of these speculative assets. Instead, she remains bullish on significant crypto assets such as Bitcoin, Ether, and Solana. She believes these digital assets’ expanding use cases will secure long-term relevance.
CZ Contradicts Stance on Memecoins
Notable crypto figures remain divided on the value and future of memecoins. While Wood warns that most of these tokens will likely become worthless, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the co-founder of Binance, presents a more ambiguous stance.
Despite his criticism of the memecoin hype for lacking real-world utility, CZ has contributed to the trend. He recently shared his dog’s name and picture, fully aware that these details will be used to create memecoins. He has also updated his profile picture on X to show him in Arabic clothing reminiscent of the Mubarak memecoin logo.
