Cathie Wood, the CEO and CIO of ARK Invest, commented on ongoing spot Bitcoin ETF filings during a CNBC interview on October 16.
Since ARK Invest is one of many asset managers pursuing a spot Bitcoin ETF, Wood began by describing the current state of her company’s filing, saying:
“Last week it was announced and disclosed that we had responded to the SEC’s request for information regarding our Bitcoin filing, and we have responded. That’s really all we can say.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published the first requests for comment on select spot Bitcoin ETF filings in late September. Although ARK Invest was not one of the companies that initially received a request from the agency, it still responded by updating its application on October 11.
During the current interview, Wood suggested that the SEC’s questions indicate the agency’s attitude toward spot Bitcoin ETFs is changing. She added that the SEC’s decision to seek information could mean “hopes are rising” for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
When the interviewer suggested that many commentators believe a Bitcoin ETF could be approved by the end of the year, Wood suggested that this could be due to ARK’s own approval deadline. The SEC must make a decision on ARK’s proposal by January 10, 2024. Although ARK’s application is first in line, Wood noted that multiple ETFs could be approved at once — echoing one of her previous statements from August.
BlackRock’s CEO hasn’t heard any endorsement buzz
Wood’s comments followed a few hours of frenetic trading after rumors circulated on social media that the SEC had approved BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application; however, those rumors were unfounded.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink appeared on Fox Business later in the day and said in an interview that he had “only heard [about] it happened an hour ago,” implying that he was unfamiliar with the rumor. However, in the same interview, he expressed the view that today’s rally was likely fueled by the markets’ growing interest in a “flight to quality” amid growing geopolitical tensions related to Hamas’ war against Israel.
Crypto, says Fink, can appeal to investors for this reason, in addition to government bonds and gold.
The SEC has not released any updates on the spot approval of Bitcoin ETFs, and individual members of the SEC have not commented on the BlackRock approval rumor.
The post Cathie Wood says ‘hopes are rising’ for spot Bitcoin ETF; Larry Fink Discusses Crypto’s Role in Restless Markets appeared first on CryptoSlate.
