[Bitcoin Now] Cathie Wood Selling GBTC, Jack Dorsey Mining Cryptocurrency

Conflicting Moves of Cryptocurrency Advocates
Less Than a Month Left Until Bitcoin Becomes Legal Tender... El Salvador's Finance Minister Says "Dollar Will Maintain Its Major Currency Status"

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The actions of cryptocurrency advocates are diverging. Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Investment, sold shares of the U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) managed by U.S. asset management firm Grayscale, while Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, is attempting Bitcoin mining. Meanwhile, El Salvador showed contradictory behavior by supporting the dollar ahead of the official adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

According to cryptocurrency media CoinDesk on the 18th (local time), ARK Investment, led by CEO Wood, reduced its holdings of Coinbase shares and GBTC. Chinese cryptocurrency media Wu Blockchain explained on Twitter, “ARK Investment sold 92,570 shares of Coinbase and 191,181 shares of GBTC,” adding, “The total value of these amounts to $31.03 million (approximately 36.49748 billion KRW).”

CEO Wood is a prominent cryptocurrency advocate who even applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Bitcoin price-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF). When Bitcoin, which was in the 70 million KRW range in May, plunged to the 40 million KRW range, she said, “This is actually a good opportunity to buy Bitcoin at a low price,” and “I expect it to rise to $500,000.”

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, is deep in thought at the Twitter 13th Anniversary Press Conference held on the 22nd at the Shilla Hotel Yeongbingwan in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

On the other hand, CEO Dorsey has started Bitcoin mining. On the 17th, he announced on Twitter, “I am attempting Bitcoin mining through Compass Mining.” Compass Mining is a cryptocurrency mining hardware manufacturer, with mining hardware priced at about $8,200. Earlier this year, CEO Dorsey purchased about $170 million worth of Bitcoin and created an auction by turning his first Twitter post into a non-fungible token (NFT).

El Salvador, a Latin American country that adopted cryptocurrency as legal tender, has raised concerns about potential confusion by stating that Bitcoin usage will be optional. According to CoinDesk on the 17th, Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador’s Minister of Finance, said, “The use of Bitcoin and digital wallets is optional,” and “There will be no sanctions for those who do not use cryptocurrency.” He also stated that the dollar will maintain its status as El Salvador’s primary currency.

Minister Zelaya’s remarks contradict the Bitcoin law passed by the El Salvador Congress in June. According to the law, all economic agents in El Salvador must accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. This means Bitcoin is guaranteed a major currency status. The law is scheduled to take effect on September 7.

Meanwhile, according to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 4:23 PM on the 19th, Bitcoin was priced at 52.75 million KRW, down 0.14% from the previous day. It rose to 55.7 million KRW on the 16th but has shown little fluctuation after a slight decline.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.