Cathie Wood says ETH ETF approvals were political, praises El Salvador’s BTC approach News ▸ El Salvador · US ▸ Ethereum ▸ ETF
Cathie Wood says ETH ETF approvals were political, praises El Salvador’s BTC approach
ARK Invest's CEO and CIO shared her stance on both matters.
2 min read
Updated: May. 29, 2024 at 11:03 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
ARK Invest CEO and CIO Cathie Wood asserted on May 29 that the US SEC greenlit spot Ethereum ETFs for political reasons.
At Coindesk’s Consensus 2024, Wood identified two developments that arguably influenced the SEC’s changing sentiment. First, she said the House’s recent passing of FIT21 defined crypto as an election issue.
Secondly, she said that former US President Donald Trump became “much more cozy with Bitcoin and crypto” around the time of the decision on spot ETH ETFs.
Trump began to accept campaign donations in crypto during the week of the approvals, which Wood believes attracted the attention of Joe Biden’s administration.
SEC changed stance suddenly
Wood said that the US SEC was “absolutely not” going to approve various pending spot ETH ETFs before its sudden shift in stance.
If the SEC had approved funds in the typical manner, Ark and other issuers would have received questions from the agency, which was not the case. Wood said:
“No one was getting questions from the SEC beforehand.”
However, on May 23, the SEC approved rule changes to permit the listing and trading of eight spot ETH ETF funds, including Ark and 21 Shares’ joint offering.
Wood expressed mixed opinions on whether other crypto ETFs could gain approval following the approval of ETFs. She said wirehouses could accept ETFs involving major cryptos, including Solana, while memecoin funds are unlikely.
Bukele’s El Salvador policies
The Ark Invest CEO also recently commented on El Salvador, praising its Bitcoin policies after meeting President Nayib Bukele.
Wood said Bukele’s treatment of Bitcoin, AI, and other areas could scale El Salvador’s GDP tenfold during his next five-year term. She described Bitcoin and AI as “two of the biggest economic and technology revolutions in history.”
She added:
“The President also leaped at the idea of introducing ARK Educate’s curriculum on technologically enabled innovation… to schools in El Salvador.”
The curriculum includes blockchain, AI, robotics, energy storage, and multinomics.
President Bukele is known for his various crypto policies. The El Salvador government holds at least 5,700 BTC, has implemented plans to generate income from BTC mining and local businesses, and has extended a citizenship offer for Bitcoin investors.
Mentioned in this article
Ethereum 
Bitcoin 
Solana 
Ark Invest 
21shares 
JPMorgan 
Cathie Wood 
Nayib Bukele 
Joe Biden 
Donald Trump 
James Seyffart Author 
Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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In this article
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that enables the creation of smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps).
Bitcoin
$98,736.70
Bitcoin, a decentralized currency that defies the sway of central banks or administrators, transacts electronically, circumventing intermediaries via a peer-to-peer network.
Solana
$260.083
Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform that utilizes a unique consensus algorithm called “Proof of History” to achieve fast transaction speeds and low fees.
Ark Invest
ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK Invest) holds a precision lens on thematic investing.
21shares
21Shares is a Swiss provider of crypto- currency exchange-traded products (ETPs).
JPMorgan
JPMorgan Chase & Co is a global leader in financial services, offering solutions to the world’s most important corporations, governments, and institutions in more than 100 countries.
Cathie registered ARK Investment Management LLC (“ARK”) as an investment adviser with the U.S.
Nayib Armando Bukele Ortez is a Salvadoran politician and businessman who is the 46th and current President of El Salvador.
Joe Biden, byname of Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., is an American politician and the 46th and current president of the United States.
A businessman, politician, and media personality, Donald John Trump served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
James Seyffart is a well-regarded analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, specializing in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and the broader fund industry.