One of the most recent additions to a growing list of applications for a crypto ETF in the United States is Ark Invest’s freshly proposed Bitcoin ETF.
The investment management firm has teamed up with 21Shares to file a joint Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
BTC would be held directly by the trust that underpins the ETF.
Ark Investment Management has joined a list of companies that have filed a Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States (SEC).
The New York-based investment management firm, which manages over $50 billion in assets, has teamed up with European exchange-traded product issuer 21Shares to register for the Ark21Shares ETF, a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
The Bitcoin ETF would be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (Cboe) BZX Exchange, according to the SEC filing. Other similar funds, such as VanEck and WisdomTree’s BTC ETF, have filed multiple files with Cboe.
The ETF would hold Bitcoin directly as well as track the S&P BTC index, which is a tool created by S&P Dow Jones Indices. To arrive at a unified price based on “a combination of qualitative and quantitative parameters,” the index uses data from Binance, Bitfinex, Bittrex, Bitstamp, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, and a few other exchanges.
Cathie Wood, the founder and CEO of Ark Investment Management, sits on the board of 21Shares, the fourth-largest institutional crypto product issuer by assets under management, with over $1 billion in assets under management.
According to the filing, 21Shares is the trust’s sponsor, and Ark Invest will help market the ETF shares.
The newly planned ETF will be administered and transferred by Bank of New York Mellon, with Coinbase likely to hold the Bitcoin directly acquired.
The SEC has requested more time to evaluate the plans before reaching a judgment, which has resulted in a flurry of extensions for Bitcoin ETF filings. When Cboe files the companion 19b-4 for the ARK 21Shares offering, the clock for the newly proposed ETF will start ticking.
The SEC has invited the public to comment on the VanEck Bitcoin ETF proposal. The securities regulator wants to hear from anyone who is concerned about the hazards that the new financial product could pose to the market.
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