Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Investment Management, foresees widespread institutional involvement in spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) following anticipated approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “All we need is for the trillions of dollars in institutional assets out there to allocate maybe 0.1% or 0.2% to an ETF, which will be one of the easiest ways to gain exposure and one of the most efficient ways to gain exposure to bitcoin,” she explained, adding: “That will move the price significantly.”
Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood on Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval
The CEO of Ark Investment Management (Ark Invest), Cathie Wood, shared her perspective regarding spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday. Ark Invest is among the applicants seeking approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a spot bitcoin ETF. The deadline for the securities regulator to make a decision on whether to approve or deny Ark’s application is Jan. 10.
Commenting on the SEC’s attitude regarding spot bitcoin ETFs, Wood opined: “Something did change within the last month to six weeks. After being denied several times by the SEC without hearing from anyone at the SEC, we and others we know have gotten questions from the SEC — very thoughtful, detailed, technical questions. That’s a very positive move. And it’s not just one set of questions. It’s follow-up questions. That is really good.”
The Ark Invest executive continued: “Now you ask if the SEC is data-driven. We have had the opportunity, as many others have, to meet a number of the research people within the SEC focused on crypto assets or digital assets.” She added:
We have found them to be extremely thoughtful, extremely knowledgeable and actually a great source of comfort frankly, because … we don’t want a spot bitcoin ETF to get the green light if there are any uncertainties that the SEC may have.
“So I think we’re answering those uncertainties one by one, each of the filers for a spot bitcoin ETF. And I think the dialogues are very positive. I think the outlook is bright for a spot bitcoin ETF.” In addition, Wood expressed that she believes the SEC will approve multiple spot bitcoin ETF applications in January. “We do think it will be in January. Famous last words, don’t want to say we know anything, because we don’t. But it’s just the actions of the SEC that are leading us to that conclusion,” Wood clarified.
The SEC is currently considering 13 spot bitcoin ETF proposals. The regulator met with several issuers many times recently to discuss their applications, including Ark Invest, Blackrock, Fidelity, and Grayscale Investments. The SEC reportedly gave them until the end of this week to file their amendments in order to be considered for the first wave of spot bitcoin ETF decisions.
Impact on Bitcoin’s Price
When asked whether she expects the price of bitcoin to continue to rise after the Jan. 10 deadline as it has been over the recent months, the Ark Invest executive replied:
Well, in the very short term, because of the big move we’ve had and it’s an anticipatory move based on the expectation that a spot bitcoin ETF will be approved — one or more, and it probably is more — so there has been a big anticipatory move.
“Those who have been moving in and enjoying some nice profits will probably, quote unquote, ‘sell on the news.’ That’s an expression that traders use. So you anticipate the event, bid up the price, and then sell on the news,” she explained.
Wood continued: “What we think is going to happen here is that the SEC is going to be giving bitcoin, a spot bitcoin ETF, the green light for institutional investors to participate. I think a lot of institutions have been reticent before the SEC approves a spot bitcoin ETF to do very much at all in the crypto asset world.”
She added: “All we need is for the trillions of dollars in institutional assets out there to allocate maybe 0.1% or 0.2% to an ETF, which will be one of the easiest ways to gain exposure and one of the most efficient ways to gain exposure to bitcoin.” The executive concluded:
That will move the price significantly.
“And just for some perspective here, right now we’re at 19.5 million bitcoin outstanding. The system is mathematically metered to stop at 21 million units. So scarcity value is beginning to have an impact, especially because as we look at long-term holders, those holding and not moving bitcoin for one year. Those are up to 15 million units or 15 million bitcoin,” Wood detailed.
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