ARK’s updated spot Bitcoin ETF filing is a ‘good sign’ for future approvals.
The recent ARK investment and 21Shares mutual space Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application can be seen as a “good sign of progress” and recent approvals.
The Oct. 11 revision to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's approval includes additional information about the Bitcoin ETF, including how the fund will hold assets and determine asset values.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, said the changes could be a direct response to concerns the SEC has asked ETF issuers to address.
“This means that ARK has received the SEC's comments and discussed all of them and has now filed [the] Return the ball [the] SEC court,” Balchunas said. “[In my opinion] Good sign, strong growth.
There are 5 more pages in the new S-1, but the new stuff is just as sprinkled in the two examples above. So what does this mean? This means that ARK has received the SEC's comments and addressed them all and now puts the ball in the SEC's court. Good sign IMO, strong growth.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Balchunas said the changes were “overwhelming,” adding that the new file is five pages long, adding in a separate post that “none of the comments are that new or inconsequential.”
The changes included ARK's fund's net asset value (NAV) calculations, which are inconsistent with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) – the accounting standard used by the SEC, Balchunas said.
The new filing also explains that the ETFs' assets held by Coinbase Custody are held in “segregated accounts.” […] Therefore, they are not tied to corporate or other client assets.
This is also new (and something we've heard the SEC ask again): “The trustee's assets are held with the custodian in distributed ledgers on the bitcoin blockchain, commonly called “wallets,” and are therefore not tied to corporate or other client assets.” pic.twitter.com/57TmnNi1lE
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 11, 2023
Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert added that and X ARK and others have been discussing with the SEC what the regulator wants to clear up, and post the latest signs of change.
“Good sign for future approval IMO,” he added.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs: A $600B milestone for crypto
Scott Johnson, general partner at Van Buren Capital, expressed his opinion that the value of the ETF could decrease if BTC is used for illegal purposes and limit the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining.
They are still laughing a bit because of this “electrical usage” concern. Ark couldn't even be bothered to put a coherent headline summary or more than a couple of short sentences. You know the convo with the SEC like “Oh yeah, good call Mr. SEC attorney, this is definitely material” https://t.co/unIArFDKl8
— Scott Johnson (@SGJohnsson) October 12, 2023
“It doesn't seem like the agency is putting any unnecessary restrictions on the definition of review,” Johnson said, based on the ARK amendments.
Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this in history and show your support for free journalism in the crypto space.
Magazine: Web3 Gamer: Minecraft Bans Bitcoin P2E, iPhone 15 and crypto gaming, Formula E
