ETFs
Cathie Wood Says ETH ETF Approvals Were Political, Praises El Salvador’s BTC Approach
ARK Invest CEO and CIO Cathie Bois affirmed on May 29 that the green light from the American SEC Ethereum ETF for political reasons.
During Coindesk’s Consensus 2024, Wood identified two developments that arguably influenced the evolution of SEC sentiment. First, she said that the House recent death of FIT21 has defined crypto as an election issue.
Second, she said that former U.S. President Donald Trump became “much more comfortable with Bitcoin and crypto” around the time of the spot ETH ETF decision.
Trump began to accept campaign donations in crypto during the week of approvals, which Wood said caught the attention of That of Joe Biden administration.
The SEC suddenly changed its position
Wood said the US SEC was “absolutely not” going to approve various pending spot ETH ETFs before his sudden change of stance.
If the SEC had approved the funds in the usual manner, Ark and other issuers would have received questions from the agency, which was not the case. Bois said:
“No one received any questions from the SEC beforehand.”
However, on May 23The SEC approved rule changes to allow listing and trading of eight spot ETH ETFs, including Ark and 21 shares’ joint offer.
Wood expressed mixed opinions on whether other crypto ETFs could be approved after the ETFs are approved. She said transmission companies could accept ETFs involving major cryptocurrencies, including Solanawhile memecoin funds are unlikely.
Bukele’s policy in El Salvador
The CEO of Ark Invest also recently commented on El Salvador, praising its Bitcoin politicians after meeting the president Nayib Bukele.
Wood said Bukele’s treatment of Bitcoin, AI and other areas could increase El Salvador’s GDP tenfold during his next five-year term. She described Bitcoin and AI as “two of the greatest economic and technological revolutions in history.”
She added:
“The president also had the idea to introduce ARK Educate’s curriculum on technological innovation…in schools in El Salvador.”
The program includes blockchain, AI, robotics, energy storage and multinomy.
President Bukele is known for his various crypto policies. The Salvadoran government holds at least 5,700 BTC, has implemented plans to generate revenue through BTC mining and local businesses, and has expanded a offer of citizenship for Bitcoin investors.