SEC Delays Decision on ARK and 21Shares Joint Bitcoin ETF
- The SEC has announced a 21-day period for public comments on the ARK Invest and 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.
- Cathie Woods, the CEO of ARK Invest, predicted on August 7 that the regulator would delay its decision.
- The ETF application was filed in May, and the regulator has 240 days or until January 2024 to make its decision.
- The SEC rejected the ETF earlier, stating that it is not “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again delayed its decision on a Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF proposal by ARK Investment Management and 21Shares is now open for public comments, as per a notice shared by the US securities regulator.
According to the notice, a 21-day comment period has been opened by the SEC to discuss the features of the ARK Invest and 21Shares Bitcoin spot ETF. The regulator has yet to approve an ETF that is directly tied to the price action of the world’s first and oldest cryptocurrency, as recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records.
The 21-day public discussion was announced by the SEC following its publication in the Federal Register, and the decision to approve or reject the Bitcoin spot ETF has been significantly delayed once again. Interestingly, ARK Invest initially filed the application for the ETF in May and gave the regulator close to 240 days, or until January 2024, to make its decision.
The SEC has stated that for a public listing on the Cboe Exchange, which is ARK Invest and 21Shares’ final goal, the Bitcoin ETF application must include a “comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement in place with a regulated market of significant size.” On these grounds, the agency had previously rejected the ETF filing from the two investment management firms, stating that the ETF is not “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and protect investors.
“The regulated market of significant size test does not require that the spot bitcoin market be regulated in order for the Commission to approve this proposal, and precedent makes clear that an underlying market for a spot commodity or currency being a regulated market would actually be an exception to the norm,” the SEC said on Aug. 11.
It is important to mention here that the founder and CEO of ARK Investment Management, Cathie Wood, predicted on August 7 that the SEC would delay the decision on its Bitcoin spot ETF application but also noted that there is a significant chance that the regulator would approve multiple ETFs at the same time.
As reported earlier by BitcoinWisdom, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz recently stated that the insiders at BlackRock believe that the Bitcoin spot ETF approval from the SEC will come in six months.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
