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September 12, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Third time’s the charm? ARK and 21Shares again file with SEC for Bitcoin ETF

April 26, 2023 Coin Telegraph

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Cathie Wood’s ARK and crypto investment firm 21Shares are tripling down on their attempt to get approval to create a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and European crypto investment firm 21Shares are seemingly unperturbed by the cryptocurrency regulatory environment in the United States, again requesting approval for a Bitcoin (BTC)-based financial product.

On April 25, the two companies requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approve the creation of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) despite being rejected twice before.

The two companies first applied to create their spot Bitcoin ETF on June 28, 2021, which was later rejected by the SEC in April 2022. The regulator said the product did not meet the requirements of listing a financial product under its rules of practice as well as those of the Exchange Act.

The pair filed another request for a second time in May 2022, an application the SEC rejected again on Jan. 26 this year.

An ETF allows investors exposure to a particular asset without actually owning the underlying financial product. A spot Bitcoin ETF allows investors to gain indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency with shares that track BTC’s price in real-time without actually holding Bitcoin.

While the SEC has approved a number of Bitcoin Futures ETFs — that expose buyers to the potential future value of BTC — it has so far rejected every application for a spot Bitcoin ETF citing difficulties with “protecting investors and the public interest” against fraud and manipulation.

According to ETF analysts from Bloomberg, it seems likely that a spot Bitcoin ETF could become a reality in the U.S. midway through this year.

New note out on why we think spot bitcoin ETFs will get approved in early Summer 2023. The SEC is proposing to expand the definition of "exchange" which would bring crypto platforms under SEC reg. After that (which could take a year) look for ETFs to get green light via @JSeyff pic.twitter.com/TtFgFXrJ8h
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) March 24, 2022

Crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) is currently seeking to convert its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF and has sued the SEC for rejecting its proposal.

Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm said in a tweet on Jan. 12, “The case is moving swiftly. While timing is uncertain, oral arguments may be as soon as Q2 [2023].”

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Aussie crypto ETFs see $1.3M volume so far on difficult launch day

May 12, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Aussie crypto ETFs see .3M volume so far on difficult launch day

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The trio’s launch marks the first crypto ETFs to go live in Australia, with two of them focused on offering exposure to BTC and the other focused on ETH.

With crypto markets tanking, three crypto-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) picked a difficult day to commence trading on local exchange Cboe Australia today.

The trio’s launch marks the first crypto ETFs to go live in Australia, with two of them focused on offering exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and the other focused on Ethereum (ETH).

So far the three ETFs have generated more than $1.3 million between them, and it has been estimated that they could see around $1 billion worth of inflows moving forward.

The Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF (CBTC) from Sydney-based crypto investment firm Cosmos Asset Management offers a relatively indirect route to BTC, as it “approximately tracks the performance of the USD denominated ETF non-currency hedged units (Purpose ETF Units) in the Purpose Bitcoin ETF.”

The other two ETFs were developed by ETF Securities in partnership with major Switzerland-based exchange-traded products (ETP) provider 21 Shares. The funds are called the Bitcoin ETF (“EBTC”) Ethereum ETF (“EETH”). They both track the Australian dollar (AUD) value of their respective assets.

According to Cboe data at the time of writing, 21 Shares EBTC and EETH have seen 125,271 and 142,206 shares trade hands, which accounts for roughly $519,874 and $416,663 in volume respectively.

Cosmos Asset Management’s fund has had a relatively slower start at 51,572 shares traded for a total of $398,135, however activity could soon pick up as given that the firm has waived fees on CBTC for two months to attract institutional interest.

Speaking on the launch with Cointelegraph, ETF Securities Head of Distribution, Kanish Chugh noted that while it was a difficult time to launch amid the crashing crypto market, it also provides investors with a reasonable chance to get some skin in the game:

“Given how volatile markets are now in the short term it will be hard to determine how Bitcoin and Ethereum will perform. What we are seeing though is with Bitcoin coming off more than 50% from its 2021 high, investors are considering the current volatility as providing them with an opportunity to invest. “

“Our crypto ETFs are physically backed and tracks the underlying price of Bitcoin and Ethereum and we have high hopes that EBTC and EETH will be a success in the long term,” he added.

In a public announcement, ETF Securities Chairman Graham Tuckwell also emphasized the significance of launching crypto ETFs in a local context given the stature of BTC and ETH.

“The market capitalization and trading volumes for these two leading cryptocurrencies are now larger than any company listed on the Australian stock exchanges, yet investors have not been able to gain access to them in a regulated manner,“ he said.

Not everyone was as bullish despite the landmark moment however, with Kraken’s Managing Director for Australia Jonathon Miller hailing this “significant milestone for the maturation of the digital assets space” while pointing out investors could already buy Bitcoin.

“However, it isn’t necessarily a watershed moment for accessibility. We must remember that individual investors can already buy Bitcoin directly and each layer of abstraction away from the underlying asset can add risk and cost,”

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