ARK Invest and 21Shares collaborate to market new ETF

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest yesterday filed for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) alongside Swiss-based 21Shares

Asset management company ARK Invest has partnered with 21Shares in a joint application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval for a proposed Exchange-traded fund.  The Monday filing detailed that the token, if approved, would be on the Chicago Board Options Exchange BZX, similar to the rest of the ETF proposals the SEC is yet to decide upon.

To be known as ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, the proposed ETF will be primarily sponsored by 21 Shares, with ARK Invest assisting in marketing shares.  The intention would be to use the Bitcoin index built by S&P Dow Jones Indices to determine the daily value of shares and thus provide bitcoin exposure.

The S-1 form requesting registration of securities through which the application was made also revealed that Coinbase would be the official custodian for the ETF’s digital coin. Furthermore, BNY Mellon would facilitate the issuance and redemption of shares while also providing administrative and financial services.

ARK Invest, under the leadership of founder and CEO Cathie Woods, continues to expand its reach in the crypto industry. Currently, the investment firm has $250 million worth of shares held by Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. In addition to being an influential investor in the crypto space, Woods is also a huge bitcoin proponent, having insisted not long ago that Bitcoin would eventually defy the recent slump and hit $500,000 at some point.

According to CoinShares, 21Shares, where Cathie Woods serves as a board member, has over $1 billion worth of crypto assets under management. ETF specialist Eric Balchunas believes the approval of the proposed ETF would allow 21 Shares to easily slot into the American crypto space. The joint application will be keenly watched as it piles onto other ETF applications that the SEC has rejected or for which it has requested an extended decision-making period.

Mid-month, the SEC yet again delayed a decision on VanEck’s proposed ETF. In response to the delay, CEO Jan van Eck insisted that investors want immediate approval and that the demand around ETFs will push for approval soon enough. Last week, the SEC also announced that Valkyrie would receive another extension and have to wait for an additional 45 days, within which the SEC will make a decision. The SEC’s attitude towards digital assets has not been welcoming, and the situation is even stickier considering that the consensus was that Gary Gensler, the current chair, is pro-crypto.