ARK Investment Management CEO Cathie Wood believes Securities and Exchange Commission blessing of a spot bitcoin ETF would represent "the final seal of approval for institutions."
Her comments came during a Dec. 6 webinar titled "Unlocking the Future: A Deep Dive into Digital Asset ETFs," which was hosted by 21Shares and ARK. On Nov. 14, 21Shares US, an affiliate of 21Shares, and ARK announced the launch of a suite of five actively managed bitcoin and ethereum futures ETFs.
Wood said that "if you look at our appreciation expectations for bitcoin, the biggest part of the appreciation during the next five to 10 years we think will come from institutional."
Wood said when it comes to a spot bitcoin ETF, it is "very interesting" that the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF application "is first in line and BlackRock is next."
"A little of the history behind that is the SEC was denying, denying, denying and we just kept filing, filing, filing and I'll give 21Shares a lot of credit for pushing us in this direction," she said. "We do think while we're first in line, that a number of the firms will be approved at the same time."
Ophelia Snyder, co-founder and president of 21Shares, said a spot ETF "is a very easy to understand, very accessible product," that she believes will end up having mass appeal.
"There are a lot of people for whom access to the underlying markets is never going to be a real option," she said. "That's especially true for advisers, for institutions; there's a lot of infrastructure here, I think it's going to end up being a really critical gateway because it fundamentally allows you to outsource all of the operational needs of entering this space."
That said, "I think even alongside spot, futures have a real role to play," Snyder said.
"It's not an either-or and the entire thesis behind our approach to digital assets, both in Europe and also as part of the ARK partnership has been we're not trying to be prescriptive in how people approach this market," she said. "We want to make sure that we are providing as many solutions as possible."
Zurich-based 21Shares' assets under management totaled $1.9 billion as of Dec. 5. ARK had $25 billion in assets under management as of Aug. 31, an ARK spokesperson has said.
