Investment manager ARK Invest is joining a growing list of organizations that are seeking to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
The Cathie Wood-led ARK Invest is calling its proposed financial product ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The investment management firm, which focuses on disruptive innovation, says the ETF will make it easier and safer to invest in Bitcoin.
“The Trust [responsible for the ETF] provides investors with the opportunity to access the market for Bitcoin through a traditional brokerage account without the potential barriers to entry or risks involved with holding or transferring Bitcoin directly or acquiring it from a Bitcoin spot market.”
Crypto exchange Coinbase would provide Bitcoin custodial services for the ETF through its subsidiary Coinbase Custody Trust Company. ARK Invest currently holds 3,684,714 shares in Coinbase worth over $900 million. Coinbase is the eighth-largest holding on ARK Invest’s portfolio or 3.67% of the entire portfolio.
ARK Invest foresees existing and future regulations as being one of the major risks to investing in the ETF if it is approved.
“Future and current regulations by a United States or foreign government or quasi-governmental agency could have an adverse effect on an investment in the Trust.”
Some of the firms that have filed Bitcoin ETF applications include multinational financial services giant Fidelity and global investment manager Van Eck.
Other applicants include ETF and exchange-traded product (ETP) sponsor WisdomTree Investments as well as the hedge fund founded by former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, SkyBridge.
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