The investor said concerns about tax ramifications informed her decision to take time to understand the tax implications.
Cathie Wood, an American investor and founder of Ark Invest, has said she did not join the buying frenzy around the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, Business Insider reported following the fund’s debut on 19 October on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The ETF, trading under the symbol BITO, saw massive trading volumes on Tuesday as demand pushed its debut volume to $1 billion.
Wood, who is also the CEO of the Florida-based investment management firm, cited issues around taxes as the main reason for her not jumping on the bandwagon on the ETF’s opening day.
Acknowledging that indeed she did not put money into the futures-based Bitcoin fund, she added that her investment team was carefully studying the exchange-traded fund, suggesting a potential investment in the future.
“There are some tax ramifications we’d like to understand more having to do with contango versus more normal backwardation,” she explained.
In terms of investment, contango is when an ETF’s forward curve shows price is significantly higher athn spot price. Backwardation, on the other hand, is a situation where the future’s forward price is lower than its spot price.
Despite not being among the first to gobble up ProShares’ BITO, Cathie Wood and Ark Invest remain very much pro-bitcoin. as well as predicting that the price of BTC will reach $500k, her company recently filed for a Bitcoin ETF, collaborating with 21Shares s to file an application with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission.
Elsewhere, the market could have its second and third Bitcoin Strategy ETFs this Friday and Monday. According to ETF analysts Eric Balchunas, Valkyrie’s BTF is set to go live on 22 October, while VanEck’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) set to make a debut on Monday.