ARK Invest Submits Final Amendment for Bitcoin ETF Ahead of SEC Deadline

ARK Invest filed its final Form S-1 amendment for its proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) ahead of a reported United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-imposed deadline, which is a requirement to be considered in the first wave of decisions in January 2024.

According to an earlier report, officials from the SEC met with representatives of at least seven firms on Dec. 21, setting a deadline for applicants to file their final S-1 amendments by Dec. 29.

The delegates at the meetings were reportedly informed by the regulators that any issuer that does not reach the deadline will not be included in the initial wave of prospective spot Bitcoin ETF approvals that will take place at the beginning of January.

Late on December 28th, ARK Invest submitted an amendment to the S-1 registration statement for its Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, as stated in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the amendment focused on authorized participants. On Dec. 19, Ark revised its application with a change to cash creations and redemptions for shares in the fund. This was in line with other issuers that had to “bend the knee” to cash production.

In a previous statement, James Seyffart, a fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst, expressed his surprise that he had not yet seen any amended Bitcoin ETF filings. Balchunas commented that others may wait until the last minute because they don’t want to show their competitors the amendments.

A spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval is being sought by over a dozen companies, with additional modified S-1 filings expected within the next twenty-four hours. Remarking on the frenzy of activity leading up to the anticipated introduction of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, ETF Store president Nate Geraci said:

“I love the fact that this saga is forcing more TradFi investors to learn about crypto and more crypto investors to learn about ETF wrapper. That is “The Bridge.” Crypto isn’t going away.”