Cathie Wood, founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills
Reuters

KEY POINTS

  • Wood expressed optimism of a likely approval announcement by the SEC by Jan. 10
  • Wood said Bitcoin is a hedge against inflation and deflation and within five years, it will be treated like an investment in physical gold
  • Bitcoin was trading in the red zone at $42,468.92 as of 3:55 a.m. ET on Wednesday

Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of ARK Invest, has expressed optimism over the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). She predicted that the potential approval would have a short-term impact on the price of the world's largest crypto asset by market cap.

Wood, who has been giving her predictions on spot Bitcoin ETF applications over the past months, mentioned in an interview Tuesday that the SEC's "depth of knowledge" and understanding of relevant issues has changed for the better and expressed her anticipation of a likely approval announcement by Jan. 10.

Wood's ARK Invest is collaborating with 21Shares on Bitcoin and Ethereum Futures ETF products and its ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF is among the first proposal subject to SEC's final decision on Jan. 10.

She also highlighted how a spot Bitcoin ETF will stimulate once institutions and investors dip their toes in the space, noting that "They will want ways to diversify, and we wanted to be ready to actively manage diversification strategies."

Wood also said that Bitcoin is a hedge against inflation and deflation and within five years, the world's oldest crypto asset will be treated like an investment in physical gold.

Last week, ARK 21Shares filed an amended application with the SEC noting that its crypto investment vehicle will use the cash creation and redemption model. The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF proposal initially preferred the in-kind creation and redemptions model.

The amendment came after the SEC reportedly called every applicant and offered them two choices: amend their filings by including cash creation and redemption model or wait.

Bitcoin was trading in the red zone at $42,468.92, with a 24-hour trading volume up by 12.29% at $27,478,000,626 as of 3:55 a.m. ET on Wednesday.

Bitcoin's latest price action represents a 0.76% drop in its value in the past 24 hours and a 1.15% loss over the past seven days.

Data from CoinMarketCap shows that the current circulating supply of Bitcoin stands at 19,582,000 BTC and its market cap is at $831,626,355,593.

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