AUSTIN, Texas — ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood said cryptocurrency is now a U.S. election issue, which is why key documents for a proposed Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) were suddenly and unexpectedly approved.
“The expectation was that it wouldn't be approved. It definitely wouldn't be approved,” Wood said in an interview with “What Bitcoin Did” podcast host Peter McCormack onstage at Consensus 2024. “If it had been approved in the normal way, we would have had questions from the SEC. Nobody had been asked questions by the SEC in advance.”
“The other thing that happened was that former President Trump became quite friendly towards Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general. That week he said he would accept campaign donations in cryptocurrency,” Wood said, catching the administration's attention.
Wood also said that while the Solana ETF may be approved, a fund focused on meme coins is unlikely to be approved because wirehouses won't accept anything bigger than “big name” investors.
Wood also said ARK’s position is that Bitcoin (BTC) is a public good and that the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which was approved in January with a 0.21% fee, would not be profitable.
“we [the ETF] We want as many people as possible to use it, so we keep the prices low.”
She also announced that ARK will use a portion of its private fund's profits to support bitcoin developers, ensuring they receive consistent support regardless of the ETF's profitability.
Bitcoin vs Ethereum
While Ether (ETH) has been getting a lot of attention thanks to the ongoing approval of an Ether ETF, Wood did not hide his stance on Bitcoin when asked whether he would rather hold Bitcoin or Ether.
“It's Bitcoin. There's no question about it. It's a global monetary system. It's a technology. It's a new asset class. It's three big ideas rolled into one, and there's nothing like it in the crypto world.”
