Gensler Delaying Spot BTC ETF Decision Due To Interest In Treasury Secretary Position: ARK Invest’s Wood

Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of ARK Invest, shared what she thinks is the reason behind the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), particularly, its chairman Gary Gensler, for delaying its decision on the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications.

Gensler had mentioned in the past that his hesitance to approve the spot Bitcoin ETF applications is driven by his fears that it could be utilized to manipulate the market, but Wood thinks otherwise.

Before the SEC chairman assumed his post at the commission, he was an investor and had been teaching and researching economics and management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, underlining his knowledge and understanding of the market and digital assets.

Given Gensler’s background and expertise, Wood finds it hard to arrive at a logical reason as to why the current SEC chairman is standing in the way of a spot crypto ETF.

Wood said in an interview with CNBC Squawk Box on Tuesday, “This is a decentralized, transparent network. You can follow all the activity…it’s highly unlikely to be manipulated,” adding that Gensler knows this “having taught a course in crypto and blockchain at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) prior to being SEC Chair.”

The ARK Invest founder also shared in the interview: “There’s speculation that he’s interested in the Treasury Secretary position at some point. What does the Treasury Secretary do? Very focused on the dollar.”

Wood’s asset management firm ARK Invest is one of the 12 companies waiting for the SEC’s decision on their spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

She previously predicted that the financial regulator would approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applications at once.

Last month, Wood reported that the spot Bitcoin ETF application by ARK Invest and 21Shares is making progress and highlighted the shift in the SEC’s attitude towards BTC ETF filings.

“Our partner 21Shares in Europe did answer or send information in response to the SEC questions… and what we see here is a little bit of a change in the SEC’s behavior,” Wood said at the time, adding, “They actually are asking questions and we provided five pages along with our partner of answers to those questions. So progress we would say.”

She further said, “The SEC is engaging with us for the #BitcoinETF application. It indicates a change in the SEC’s behavior. Bitcoin ETFs will definitely be approved, and multiple ETFs will receive approval simultaneously. The court will mandate the SEC.”

The major Wall Street regulator has a window until Friday to decide if it is going to approve or reject several spot BTC ETF filings and has until Jan. 10, 2024, to make its final decision on the matter.