U.S. Falling Behind in Bitcoin Movement

The United States is “losing” the bitcoin movement, according to Cathie Wood, founder of investment management ARK Invest, because of its regulatory framework.

Wood stated her concerns during a speech at Fortune’s Most Powerful Next Gen conference, stressing how the center of gravity for cryptocurrencies is shifting away from the United States, as illustrated by cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase gaining licenses in Bermuda and eyeing expansion in Singapore.

“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,” Wood said.

ARK Invest, noted for its large orders of Coinbase shares, is an aggressive participant in the crypto market. Wood also expressed dissatisfaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) attitude on cryptocurrency rules, as well as continuing issues with Coinbase and Ripple.

Wood noted that the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last year, as well as recent banking crises, highlighted the perils of centralized financial systems, in contrast to bitcoin‘s decentralized nature.

“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,” she said.

“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.”