ARK Invest has taken the lead by filing the final Form S-1 amendment for its proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) ahead of a reported deadline set by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC reportedly met with representatives of at least seven firms on December 21, establishing a deadline for applicants to submit their final S-1 amendments by December 29. Any issuer failing to meet this deadline has been informed that they will not be part of the initial wave of potential spot Bitcoin ETF approvals in early January 2024.
ARK Invest, in compliance with the SEC deadline, filed an amendment to the S-1 registration statement for its Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF on December 28. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that the amendment focused on authorized participants. On December 19, Ark had previously revised its application, making changes to cash creations and redemptions for shares in the fund, aligning with other issuers who had to adapt to cash creations. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart expressed surprise at the absence of amended Bitcoin ETF filings earlier, suggesting that some issuers might be waiting until the last minute to avoid revealing amendments to competitors.
With more than a dozen firms competing for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF, additional amended S-1 filings are expected to be submitted in the next 24 hours. Commenting on the heightened activity leading up to the anticipated launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, ETF Store president Nate Geraci remarked that this situation is compelling traditional finance investors to learn about crypto and vice versa, emphasizing the bridging effect between the two worlds. He stated, “Crypto isn’t going away.”
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