Cathie Wood, founder, CEO and CIO, of ARK Investment Management, has joined the board of directors at Amun, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) issuer 21Shares.
Shareholders of Amun held an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) last week where Wood was appointed to the board.
A fundraising round also is expected to close this week with Wood and Anthony Pompliano, the former co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital, Collaborative Ventures and Quiet Ventures all backing the crypto ETP issuer.
Hany Rashwan, co-founder and CEO of 21Shares, commented: “We are seeing unprecedented investor demand for exchange-traded crypto products that can be bought and sold as easily as a stock.
“Based on market opportunity, this year we are looking to expand our ETP product suite globally. Our investors’ commitment to 21Shares and the quality of our board of directors will help us advance our mission.”
Wood added: “21Shares is forging a new path for crypto ETPs, by leading with research and a keen understanding of this developing asset class. I am thrilled to support its efforts.”
ARK’s Wood has been a long-time advocate of cryptocurrencies and recently invested $580m in Coinbase’s IPO, the leading crypto exchange in the US.
Furthermore, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust BTC currently has a 5.78% weighting in the firm’s Next Generation ETF (ARKW), the second largest holding behind Tesla.
21Shares has been active in the market in recent months with the launch of the world’s first cardano ADA and stellar XLM ETPs on 23 April and the first polkadot ETP on 2 February.
The crypto issuer currently has over $2bn assets under management (AUM) across 14 ETPs.
