The United States’ cryptocurrency regulatory climate does not appear to be bothering Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest or the European cryptocurrency investment company 21Shares, who are both reapplying for approval for a financial product based on the $28,381 Bitcoin.
Despite been turned down twice before, the two companies asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to permit the development of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on April 25.
The SEC turned down the two businesses’ initial attempt to establish their spot Bitcoin ETF in April 2022. The request was made on June 28, 2021. According to the regulator’s guidelines of practice and the Exchange Act, the product did not meet the criteria for listing a financial instrument.
The two again submitted a request in May 2022, which the SEC once more rejected on January 26 of this year. An ETF gives investors access to a specific asset without having to hold the underlying financial product themselves. With shares that follow the price of BTC in real-time, a spot Bitcoin ETF enables investors to get exposure to the cryptocurrency without actually holding any of it.
The SEC has so far denied every application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, claiming challenges with “protecting investors and the public interest” from fraud and manipulation. This is in contrast to the fact that the SEC has approved a number of Bitcoin Futures ETFs, which expose buyers to the potential future value of BTC.
A spot Bitcoin ETF might materialize in the United States by the middle of this year, according to ETF researchers at Bloomberg. The crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) has filed a lawsuit against the SEC for denying its request to turn its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
The litigation is progressing quickly, Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm tweeted on January 12. Although the exact date is unknown, oral arguments could happen as soon as Q2 [2023].
