The latest development from the regulatory body reportedly comes after the commission rejected Grayscale’s attempt to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF in June.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended the deadline to approve or disapprove ARK Investment Management’s 21 Shares’ Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC now has up to 45 days to make a decision on Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest and 21Shares’s joint ETF after extending the deadline from July 16 to August 30.
According to a Tuesday filing from the SEC, a proposed rule change from the Chicago Board Options Exchange BZX Exchange is included in the application, which was initially submitted to the SEC in May and made available for comments in the Federal Register on June 1.
The latest development from the regulatory body reportedly comes after the commission rejected Grayscale’s attempt to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF in June. The SEC now claims it needs an adequate amount of time in order to weigh in on the aforementioned filing, as stated in the notice of the designation of a longer period.
The assistant secretary of the SEC, J. Matthew DeLesDernier, stated that the regulatory body had decided on an extension to give “sufficient time to review the proposed rule change and the problems addressed therein.”
The SEC has never approved an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that has direct exposure to cryptocurrencies, but it has approved investment vehicles tied to BTC futures, such as funds from Valkyrie and ProShares.
Ark Invest earlier in April saw its application rejected by the SEC after it partnered with Europe-based ETF issuer 21Shares to file for a spot Bitcoin ETF listed on Cboe BZX Exchange in 2021. According to current regulations, the regulatory body has the right to postpone making a judgement and allow the investment offering to be reviewed by the public for up to 180 days.
When the SEC rejected Grayscale’s application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot BTC ETF in June, the investment management asked the courts to review the SEC’s ruling. Donald Verrilli, a senior legal strategist at Grayscale, claimed in the filing that the SEC had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” by “failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.”
Speaking in a webinar on Tuesday, Cathie Wood, founder of Ark Invest, stated that the US Federal Reserve is disregarding indicators of deflation as it pushes ahead with its aggressive interest rate-hike plan to fight inflation and would soon be compelled to make a dovish shift.
“The market has figured out that the Fed is making a mistake,” Wood stated.
Wood cited declines in copper, oil, and gold prices as evidence that concerns about sustained inflation are unfounded. Wood’s ARK Innovation ETF was the best-performing fund of 2020 thanks to bets on businesses like Zoom Video Communications Inc, which soared during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic.
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