Recent revisions to ARK Invest and 21Shares’ joint spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application could be seen as a “good sign” of progress and impending approval.
Revised on October 11 Archive The approval filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adds more information about the proposed spot Bitcoin ETF, including how the fund will custody assets and determine their value.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said the changes may be a direct response to concerns the SEC requires ETF issuers to address.
“What this means is that ARK received the SEC’s comments, addressed all of them, and now puts the ball back in the SEC’s court,” Balchunas said. “(In my opinion) a good sign, solid progress.”
There are 5 extra pages in the new S-1, but the new content is scattered throughout like the two examples above. So what does this mean? This means that ARK received the SEC’s comments, addressed them all, and now puts the ball back in the SEC’s court. IMO good sign, solid progress.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Balciunas said the changes were “spread all over the place”, increasing the length of the new document by five pages and adding separate content postal “None of these comments are that new or insurmountable.”
Balchunas said the changes include ARK noting that the fund’s net asset value (NAV) calculation does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), the accounting standard used by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The new filing also clarifies that ETF assets held by Coinbase Custody are held in “separate accounts (…) and therefore are not commingled with corporate or other client assets.”
This is also new (and something we’re hearing the SEC ask about again): “The trust’s assets with the custodian are held in separate accounts on the Bitcoin blockchain, commonly referred to as “wallets,” and therefore are not associated with the company or other client assets mixed together.” pic.twitter.com/57TmnNi1lE
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart joins X postal The latter change suggests ARK and other companies are communicating with the SEC what regulators want clarified.
“This bodes well for future IMO approvals,” he added.
related: Bitcoin ETF: Cryptocurrency’s $600B tipping point
Van Buren Capital general partner Scott Johnsson pointed out that another new addition is that if BTC is increasingly used for illegal purposes, and if the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining causes it to be restricted, the value of the ETF may decline.
Still scornful of this “electricity” risk factor. Ark didn’t even bother to type a coherent summary of the title or a few short sentences. You know the conversation with the SEC was like “Oh yeah, great, please call Mr. SEC Attorney, this is definitely important.” https://t.co/unIArFDKl8
— Scott Johnson (@SGJohnsson) October 12, 2023
Johnson said that under ARK’s amendment, “the agency does not appear to be erecting any unnecessary obstacles through disclosure review.”
Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Minecraft bans Bitcoin P2E, iPhone 15 and crypto games, Formula E
Svlook
