Gensler 'Denigrated The Whole Crypto Space' After Approving Bitcoin ETF: ARK's Cathie Wood

Cathie Wood, the American investor, founder and CEO of the investment management firm ARK Invest, said that the cautionary statements from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman Gary Gensler, following the regulatory agency's approval of the Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., "denigrated the whole crypto space."

"While we recognize the changing landscape, our decision to approve these products is confined to bitcoin ETPs and does not extend to other crypto asset securities or their legal status," Gensler said in a statement.

"Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto," Gensler added.

Though the SEC's approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF applications is considered by many to be a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency industry, the cautionary remarks over such investments from none other than the SEC chairman himself set the tongues wagging.

Meanwhile, Gensler's statement did not fall right on the ears of high-profile individuals in the industry, particularly of ARK Invest's Wood.

"He just denigrated the whole crypto space. I couldn't believe it," Wood said during a Bloomberg Radio interview aired on X (formerly Twitter). "This is par for the course in disruptive innovation."

For Wood, Gensler statement is an act of bashing crypto.

"It's the old DNA basically bashing the new DNA," Wood said. "There are so many people who are curious out there."

She further said, "This opens a new chapter for Bitcoin and I would like to believe we will be within the top three or two providers through this Bitcoin ETF."

This is not the first time that Wood expressed her disappointment with Gensler.

It may be recalled that in October, the ARK Invest CEO shared her opinion on the status of spot Bitcoin ETF applications and noted that it was not the SEC that stands in the way of approval but its chairman.

"For me the disconnect is, they [SEC staff] know so much, and they are so good that I believe this was much more Gary Gensler standing in the way. I don't know for sure because they could never say something like that," Wood said. "I just know from how we have discussed bitcoin with them that they really understand it, and they understand its merits," Wood said in an interview at the time.

"Why he allowed a bitcoin futures ETF, which involves counterparty risk, and not a bitcoin ETF, which does not involve counterparty risk, in fact ours would be backed by bitcoin, one-for-one, in cold storage at Coinbase. That's why Grayscale has won its case. It is that argument." Wood further said, adding. "I think Gary Gensler's personal Vietnam is coming around to haunt him. I do think the SEC is moving now."