{"id":28838,"date":"2023-06-28T19:40:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-28T23:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/investing\/cathie-woods-ark-made-this-change-to-its-bitcoin-etf-filing-heres-why-it-matters\/"},"modified":"2023-06-28T19:41:00","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T23:41:00","slug":"cathie-woods-ark-made-this-change-to-its-bitcoin-etf-filing-heres-why-it-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=28838","title":{"rendered":"Cathie Wood\u2019s Ark made this change to its bitcoin ETF filing. Here\u2019s why it matters"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cathie Wood\u2019s ARK Investment Management and crypto asset manager 21Shares amended their application for a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund to include a surveillance sharing agreement, which was similar to that in BlackRock\u2019s filing earlier this month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Cboe BZX Exchange Exchange, where the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF will be listed, expects to enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement with \u201can operator of a United States-based spot trading platform for Bitcoin,\u201d according to an updated filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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ARK Invest and 21Shares originally filed their application two years ago.<\/p>\n

See: Cathie Wood\u2019s ARK Invest is readying the first bitcoin ETF with 21Shares <\/p>\n

The SEC approved several bitcoin
\n BTCUSD,
\n -0.09%<\/bg-quote>
\n futures-based ETFs in the past, but has yet to greenlight anything that is backed by bitcoin itself.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, BlackRock
\n BLK,
\n +0.08%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n \u00a0the world\u2019s largest asset manager, filed an application for a spot bitcoin ETF. Following that, Invesco
\n IVZ,
\n +0.36%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n \u00a0WisdomTree
\n WT,
\n +1.03%<\/bg-quote>,<\/span>
\n \u00a0Valkyrie, and Bitwise also applied to issue similar products.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some people have speculated that a surveillance sharing agreement in BlackRock\u2019s filing, which requires the sharing of information about market trading activity, clearing activity, and customer identity, could be a breakthrough to obtain the SEC\u2019s approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA notable difference between Blackrock\u2019s filing and prior filings is that Blackrock will utilize software sourced from Nasdaq for monitoring spot markets for wash sales, market manipulation, and other market integrity measures,\u201d Alex Thorn, head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital, wrote in a recent note.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In its previous denials of spot bitcoin ETF applications, the SEC has repeatedly noted the lack of sufficient \u201csurveillance sharing agreements\u201d to mitigate and prevent market manipulation, according to Thorn.<\/p>\n

ARK\u2019s latest move could place the firm and 21Shares ahead of BlackRock in the\u00a0competition of launching a spot bitcoin ETF, analysts said. ARK\u2019s amendment of the filing \u201cputs them in pole position<\/a> to be approved first because they filed first,\u201d according to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n