ARK Invest CEO and CIO Cathie Wood stated on May 29 that the US SEC approved spot Ethereum ETFs for political reasons.

During Coindesk’s Consensus 2024, Wood pointed out two developments that she believes influenced the SEC's decision. Firstly, she mentioned that the House passing FIT21 recently defined crypto as an election issue. Secondly, she noted that former US President Donald Trump's growing support for Bitcoin and crypto around the time of the ETF approval also played a role. Trump began accepting campaign donations in crypto during the week of these approvals, which, according to Wood, drew the attention of the Biden administration.

Wood remarked that the SEC had initially indicated it would not approve several pending spot ETH ETFs before its sudden change in stance. She highlighted that typically, issuers like Ark and others would have faced questions from the SEC, but this did not happen in this case.

On May 23, the SEC approved rule changes allowing the listing and trading of eight spot ETH ETF funds, including Ark and 21 Shares' joint offering. Wood expressed mixed views on whether other crypto ETFs could gain approval following this decision, suggesting that major cryptos like Solana might be accepted by wirehouses, while memecoin funds are less likely to receive approval.

Wood also praised El Salvador's Bitcoin policies after meeting President Nayib Bukele. She commented that Bukele's approach to Bitcoin, AI, and other areas could potentially increase El Salvador's GDP significantly during his next term. Wood mentioned that Bukele showed interest in introducing ARK Educate’s curriculum on technology-driven innovation, including blockchain and AI, into schools in El Salvador.