Cathie Wood, whose US-based ARK Invest last month announced its entry into Europe, said “the odds are going up” that the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve her firm’s application for a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund.
ARK Invest, which last month announced it had acquired UK-based Rize ETF to assist its push into Europe, filed an application with US regulators in April to launch a spot bitcoin ETF with Switzerland-based 21Shares.
The SEC has yet to approve a string of spot bitcoin applications which it has received from asset managers, including BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity and VanEck.
Last month the SEC delayed its decision on ARK’s spot bitcoin ETF — it now has until 10 January to make up its mind.
“We are partnering with [21Shares] in the US, hoping to launch a bitcoin ETF, if it’s ever approved by the SEC. We think the odds are going up that it will be approved,” Wood said during a media call on 5 October.
The acquisition of Rize, which manages around $450m across 11 European ETFs, gives ARK Invest direct entry into the European market and a platform from which to launch and distribute products globally.
READ How Cathie Wood’s ARK plans to crack Europe: ‘We are not the typical US player’
The deal, which was brokered in just a few months, has also raised the prospect of ARK launching crypto-focused products in Europe.
In the US, Wood’s flagship $8bn ARK Innovation ETF includes Coinbase and Block among its top-10 holdings.
Wood is also among one of the biggest bitcoin champions. She has previously predicted its price could top $1m by 2030. It is currently trading at around $27,600.
There are already several crypto exchange traded products on offer to European investors, with firms such as WisdomTree, Fidelity, Invesco and Global X among some of the providers that offer them.
Wood said any crypto-focused products would probably see ARK Invest relying on the expertise of 21Shares, rather than trying to create products from scratch.
However, Wood said she did not anticipate any problems including “indirect crypto plays” within any products ARK Invest Europe might roll out in Europe.
“My sense is there won’t be any issue. But we are still working through this with our partners who are speaking with regulators,” said Wood.
Stuart Forbes, co-founder of Rize ETF, said the firm was looking at ARK’s existing fund line-up in the US to determine “which ones are right for the [European] market”.
“That one is very much in contemplation,” he said, referring to the flagship ARK Innovation ETF.
To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email David Ricketts
