Bitcoin ETF race gets hotter as ARK Invest adds surveillance agreement to application

ARK Investment Management has amended its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, making it similar to BlackRock’s recent filing. 

The amendments include a surveillance sharing agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures markets and crypto exchange, most “likely Coinbase,” said Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas on Twitter.

In the race for the first Bitcoin ETF in the United States, ARK’s filing update puts it ahead of its competitors.

JUST IN: ARK has amended their 19b-4 for spot bitcoin ETF to include a surveillance sharing agreement bt CBOE and a crypto exchange (likely Coinbase), which makes their’s like BlackRock’s filing now, and puts them in pole position to be approved first bc they filed first. pic.twitter.com/P8PCmPdhln

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 28, 2023

The investment company of Cathie Wood and the European asset manager 21Shares requested approval for a spot BTC ETF a third time in April after previous applications were denied in 2021 and 2022. As a reason for the rejections, the regulator noted that it did not meet the rules of practice and Exchange Act requirements for listing a financial product.

Speaking in a recent interview, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart confirmed that ARK’s request is the front-runner for a Bitcoin ETF. “21Shares, ARK and Cboe [Chicago Board Options Exchange] are first in line because their next SEC decision date is Aug. 13, 2023, and we don’t yet have a date for the other 19b-4 applications like the one from BlackRock,” he noted.

Even if ARK receives approval in the coming weeks, the BTC ETF saga may not be over, as it still needs to appoint a crypto exchange to enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement. Although Coinbase may be a strong candidate for this position, the company has already partnered with BlackRock to become a Bitcoin custodian should approval be granted.

“Would BlackRock […] even allow Coinbase to enter into a SSE agreement with another that would help another issuer beat them to market? If so ARK would need another crypto exchange to use,” Balchunas continued on Twitter.

BlackRock joined the long line of applicants on June 16, triggering a wave of similar initiatives on Wall Street, especially from previous applicants. Financial investment firms such as Valkyrie, WisdomTree and Invesco have refiled for spot Bitcoin ETFs in the past few days.

Cointelegraph reached out to ARK Invest but did not receive an immediate response.

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