The SEC rejected a similar application for ARK 21 Shares bitcoin ETF in April.
From several past actions of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, it’s clearly visible how the American watchdog is hesitant to take some steps forward towards approving spot bitcoin ETFs. Recently, the financial regulator has delayed the decision of approving Cathie Wood’s ARK 21Shares bitcoin ETF.
In its notice on Tuesday, the SEC noted that ARK 21Shares ETF would receive an answer to its request by 30th August 2022. While clarifying its stance, the agency added that it was important to allocate some more time before taking any action on the recent ETF request. Now after extending the date, the SEC has ample time where they can consider proposals for changing the rule and other raised issues in the application.
This is the second attempt of application for ARK 21Shares bitcoin ETF as the SEC already rejected it once, earlier in April. However, seeking approval for the second time, ARK Invest applied again for the spot bitcoin ETF.
Exchange-Traded Funds or ETFs are just another tool of investment tracks and keep eye on the value of underlying assets in an ETF. So in terms of bitcoin ETF, it provides BTC exposure to both retail and institutional investors, where they would not need to buy and keep bitcoin.
However, the SEC has no skepticism for future bitcoin ETFs as it has approved some of them in the past. Bitcoin futures ETFs allow users to trade shares. Essentially, these shares are more of contracts that bet on bitcoin’s future price. These bitcoin futures and such other derivatives are authorized to trade on financial derivative exchanges like CME and several others.
As mentioned earlier, it’s the second time for ARK 21Shares to apply for bitcoin ETFs. Last time, when the SEC rejected the application in April, the founder of ARK Invest – Cathie Wood – opposed the decision. She then said that the SEC denying spot bitcoin ETFs but at the same time approving future bitcoin ETFs, does not make any sense.
Seems like these actions of the SEC are not tolerable for several firms. Last month, crypto asset management firm – Grayscale – made an announcement to sue the SEC. This step from Grayscale came in the wake of the rejection of its application to the commission, where the management firm asked to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/07/14/ark-21shares-bitcoin-etf-has-to-wait-for-secs-decision/