Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and European crypto investment firm 21Shares have resubmitted their application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), despite being rejected twice by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The initial application, submitted in June 2021, was rejected in April 2022, and the second application was also denied in January 2023. While the SEC has approved Bitcoin Futures ETFs, it has so far turned down all requests for a spot Bitcoin ETF due to concerns over fraud and manipulation.
An ETF grants investors indirect exposure by tracking the asset’s price in real-time while avoiding direct investment. Bloomberg ETF analysts have speculated that a spot Bitcoin ETF may be approved in mid-2023, citing an expansion in the definition of ‘exchange’ that would bring crypto platforms under SEC regulation, potentially leading to approval.
Digital Currency Group (DCG) is also attempting to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF and is suing the SEC for rejecting its proposal. According to Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm, oral arguments may occur in Q2 2023.
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