21Shares CEO Hany Rashwan earlier disclosed that the approval of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF would be a big win for the crypto industry.
According to reports, Cathy Wood’s ARK Investment has once again collaborated with 21Shares, a Switzerland-based investment product issuer to take another shot at launching a Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the United States of America. The application submitted to the US securities and exchange commission (SEC) on May 13 for the approval of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF is said to include a proposal for rule change from the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) BZX Exchange.
The CBOE proposed rule change was filed on May 13 with the document published to the federal register yesterday. This means there could be a decision or extension on July 9. It is worth noting that several rule change proposals submitted alongside Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been extended with none getting the approval.
By the performance of the S&P Bitcoin Index, the objective of this new filing is to be able to track the performance of Bitcoin. A Bloomberg ETF analyst Henry Jim has disclosed that the decision for its rejection or approval would be taken on January 24, 2023.
21Shares CEO Hany Rashwan earlier disclosed that the approval of the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF would be a big win for the crypto industry as many institutional investors are currently excluded due to restrictions and challenges of regulatory uncertainty.
“For retail investors who are less tech-savvy, the main hurdles of investing directly into crypto include creating a wallet and trading on exchanges and platforms they are not familiar with. Accessing crypto by investing in an ETF would solve these problems,” he said.
In April, the earlier application for the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF was rejected by SECs for lack of investors’ protection. Even though none of the filed Spot Bitcoin ETFs have been approved, some future-based bitcoin ETF products have gotten approval which has generated a lot of argument in the industry. The misunderstanding lies in the point that future products are priced at the unregulated Bitcoin Spot market. This was captured in the CBOE’s rule proposal to the SEC.
“Both the Exchange and the Sponsor believe that this proposal and the included analysis are sufficient to establish that the CME Bitcoin Futures market represents a regulated market of significant size as it relates both to the CME Bitcoin Futures market and to the spot bitcoin market and that this proposal should be approved,” reads the proposal.
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC) is one of the known investment heavyweights seeking to launch a Spot Bitcoin ETF in the US. In March, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein hinted that they are ready to embark on a legal battle if its application is denied. Regardless of the number of applications this year, ETF analysts believe that the probability of approval could be greater in mid-2023.
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