Key takeaways

• Cathie Wood has stated that she believes the United States is losing the Bitcoin movement due to the regulatory system. 

• She stated that the collapse of FTX proved the concept of Bitcoin.

• Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest is one of the major investors of Coinbase.

US is being left behind, says Cathie Wood

Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Invest, has stated that the United States is behind the Bitcoin movement due to the regulatory system. She mentioned this while speaking at Fortune’s Most Powerful Next Gen conference last week.

According to the Ark Invest founder, the centre of gravity of cryptocurrency is moving away from the United States. She cited the example of Coinbase receiving its licence to operate in Bermuda while also expanding its operations in Singapore. She stated that;

“It would be nice if the U.S. were leading this movement, but we’re losing it, and we’re losing it because of our regulatory system.” 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been clamping down on cryptocurrency companies in recent months. The regulatory agency issued a Wells Notice to Coinbase, indicating that it is looking into the activities of the crypto exchange. 

Ark Invest continues to invest in Coinbase despite the regulatory climate in the United States. The investment management firm bought $8.6 million worth of Coinbase stocks last month after the crypto exchange sued the SEC. 

FTX’s collapse proved the concept of Bitcoin

FTX’s collapse last year was one of the biggest in the history of the cryptocurrency space. The collapse resulted in regulatory agencies like SEC focusing more of their attention on the crypto market. 

The SEC maintains that the existing securities laws cover the crypto market, and there is no need for a new regulatory framework for the industry. 

According to Cathie Wood, the collapse of FTX last year proved the concept of Bitcoin, similar to how the banking crisis this year did. She stated that the collapses indicate the dangers of centralisation in the financial system. She stated that;  

“The reason it’s adopted is, first of all, many people like the idea of a decentralized, transparent, auditable monetary system. It was born out of the 2008/2009 crisis when people just lost all trust in financial services. And very interestingly, it took another two crises within the last year to prove the concept. FTX failed because it was centralized, opaque, and not auditable.”

Bitcoin is up by more than 50% since the start of the year and is currently trading above $26k per coin.