ARK Investment Management Leads Bitcoin ETF Race

ARK Investment Management has amended its registration for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to make it comparable to BlackRock’s recent filing.

The amendments include a surveillance sharing agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures markets and a cryptocurrency exchange, “likely Coinbase,” according to a tweet from Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

ARK’s filing update places it ahead of its competitors in the contest for the first Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

Cathie Wood’s investment firm and the European asset manager 21Shares requested approval for a spot BTC ETF for the third time in April, following denials in 2021 and 2022.

The regulator cited non-compliance with the norms of practice and Exchange Act requirements for listing a financial product as the reason for the rejections.

James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, verified in a recent interview that ARK’s Bitcoin ETF proposal is the frontrunner.

“21Shares, ARK, and Cboe [Chicago Board Options Exchange] are first in line because their next SEC decision date is August 13, 2023,” he noted. “We do not yet have a date for the other 19b-4 applications, such as BlackRock’s.”

Even if ARK receives approval within the next few weeks, the BTC ETF saga may not be over, as it must still appoint a cryptocurrency exchange to enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement.

Coinbase has already partnered with BlackRock to become a Bitcoin custodian if approval is granted.

“Would BlackRock […] even permit Coinbase to enter into an SSE agreement with a competitor that would enable them to be beaten to market? If so, ARK would need to use a different cryptocurrency exchange,” Balchunas continued on Twitter.

On June 16, BlackRock joined the lengthy line of applicants, sparking a wave of similar initiatives on Wall Street, particularly from previous applicants.

In the past few days, investment firms such as Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Invesco have refiled for spot Bitcoin ETFs.