Cathie Wood Praises Kalshi's 'Phenomenal' Leadership as ARK Bets on $5 Trillion Prediction Market Opportunity: 'Skating to Where the… Puck Will Be'

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood is praising Kalshi Inc.‘s (KLSH.PVT) leadership, calling the prediction-market platform positioned ahead of where the industry is headed — a bet Ark is now backing. Wood Hails Kalshi As Ark Builds a Direct Stake “Kalshi’s management team is phenomenal, as it is skating to where the prediction markets puck will be,” Wood said in a post on X. Her comments followed Ark’s Sept. 18 purchase of Kalshi shares across three of its actively managed ETFs, bought directly from private markets. The flagship ARK Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKK) picked up 90,024 shares, the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (BATS:ARKW) added 25,318 shares, and the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (BATS:ARKF) bought 11,252 shares — a combined 126,594 shares across the three funds. We are very happy to have introduced another private company, Kalshi, to our ETF strategies. To me, Kalshi’s management team is phenomenal, as it is skating to where the prediction markets puck will be. https://t.co/XVX5cFRkfO— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) October 1, 2026 Read Also: Stock Market: Will S&P 500 Open Up or Down Today? Ark Sizes Prediction Markets At Up to $5 Trillion Ark estimates the medium-term prediction-market opportunity at $1 trillion to $5 trillion in annual notional volume, according to its analyst Nick Grous. Kalshi currently handles more than 90% of U.S. activity. Ark flagged risks, including state-level legal challenges, competition from Robinhood, and potential pressure on take rates, but said it believes the upside outweighs them. ARK’s ETF Performance The ARK Innovation ETF, which has exposure to Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX), and Coinbase Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN), held $5.56 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2026, while charging an expense ratio of 0.75%. Year to date, the fund has returned 13.75% and 1.91% over the past year. The ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, which has $1.61 billion in assets at the end of July with an expense ratio of 0.76%, has gained 7.61% so far this year and lost 7.85% over the past year. ARK Fintech Innovation ETF has $700.80 million in assets at the end of July and charges an expense ratio of 0.75%. So far in 2026, the fund has lost 4.37% and has slumped 18.96% over the past year. Price Action: On Thursday, the ARK Innovation ETF closed 0.58% lower at $88.58 and gained 0.89% to $89.37 in early pre-market trading on Friday. According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, the ARK Innovation ETF has a Momentum score in the 77th percentile with a negative price trend across the short, medium, and long term. See More: Top Momentum Stocks Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock