Cathy Wood’s ARK Sells Remaining GBTC Shares, Buys $100M in Bitcoin Futures ETF

Cathy Wood's ARK Invest has sold its remaining holdings in the Greyscale Bitcoin Trust for about $200 million.GBTC) shares, using $100 million of the proceeds to buy back shares in the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), according to Bloomberg Intelligence.

With the $100 million purchase of BITO, ARK Invest has become the second largest owner of the Bitcoin Futures ETF, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted. The asset manager unloaded 2.25 million GBTC shares and bought 4.32 million shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.

Balchunas suggested that ARK Invest's move to BITO “could be a liq transition tool to keep beta to btc to $ARKW or $ARKB.” ARKW is the ticker symbol for ARK's Next Generation Internet ETF and ARKB is the proposed ticker symbol for the spot Bitcoin ETF, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.

Just over a month ago, ARKW's GBTC position was the largest holding; As Bitcoin climbed to annual highs, the asset manager unloaded its GBTC position and stayed short.

ARK Invest's restructuring of its portfolio comes amid speculation that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve a one-stop Bitcoin ETF. The company is one of many hopefuls playing to launch the Bitcoin ETF space.

To date, the SEC has rejected every Bitcoin ETF application that has crossed its desk, but the past few months have seen several meetings between the regulator and applicants following the entry of BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, into the fray. June 2023

A subsequent court ruling that the SEC ordered to replace Greyscale's app GBTC as a Bitcoin ETF added fuel to the fire. With the SEC approving multiple applications coming up in January, hopefuls are rushing to dot the dots and cross the tees on their applications.

Barry Silbert stepped down as chairman of Greyscale Investments last week, prompting speculation that the move could be a move to clear the way for the firm's ETF prospects.