Cathie Wood, founder and CEO at Ark Invest, has made several appearances across mainstream media channels to discuss the first US-approved spot Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund). The asset manager and Wood herself have been long-term supporters of the cryptocurrency.
All About Bitcoin, Wood Has Skin In The Game
In an interview with the Schwab Network, the asset manager revealed how much of her network has been allocated to Bitcoin. Wood said around 25% of her net worth was converted into BTC.
However, the asset manager founder clarified that this estimation is a “rough” guess, meaning more or less of this percentage could be Bitcoin. More specifically, Wood stated:
My financial network, pretty much all of it, is in innovation, let’s put it that way… It’s just my degree of confidence in the depth of our research that gives me the courage, people might say, to be more aggressive in this realm.
While Wood only disclosed her Bitcoin holdings, the interviews hinted at the Ark CEO holding other digital assets. Wood added:
Either in our kind of funds, private funds, or crypto, primarily Bitcoin (…).
Cathie Wood On ETF’s The Long Term Effect
Since its approval yesterday, the Bitcoin ETFs have recorded billions of dollars in trading volume during the first hour of launch. The trading volume hints at the eagerness of investors and institutions looking to gain exposure to cryptocurrency.
The fund managers behind the 11 Bitcoin ETFs, including VanEck, BlackRock, and Wood’s Ark, have been in a fierce battle to gain market share of the new financial product. A few hours after the approval, Ark Invest unveiled a new commercial to attract potential investors while promoting their 0.25% management fee for the BTC-based product. Wood announced the ad via her official X handle.
It’s finally here.
Prospectus: https://t.co/O4FDHpu7Wd
Learn More: https://t.co/OJ7pRSWdDg pic.twitter.com/Spz4MY7MWb— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) January 11, 2024
While the BTC ETF seems a success, the previous days were plagued with issues and confusion. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) experienced a breach in its X account, which allowed bad actors to publish a false report on the ETF approval.
Talking about the incident and the long-term effect of a spot BTC ETF, Wood stated:
I was actually giving an interview, pulled up the tweet, and the first thing I saw was the Bitcoin logo in an SEC tweet. And I said, that’s weird. Then the second thing I saw was Gary Gensler’s picture kind of smiling. That seemed to be a disconnect to me (…) The democratization that we set out to provide our clients, democratized access to innovation, both in the public markets, pure-play innovation funds, and now with venture in the private markets. Bitcoin is an extension, democratization, access. We think it is going to be one of the most important assets in history.
Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview