The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has extended the deadline to approve or reject the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund to August 30.
According to a Tuesday filing from the SEC, the regulator has extended the deadline to approve or disapprove the ARK 21Shares Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF from July 16 for an additional 45 days, to August 30. The request, originally filed with the SEC in May and published for comment in the Federal Register on June 1, included a proposed rule change for the Chicago Board Options Exchange BZX.
Ark Invest partnered with Europe-based ETF issuer 21Shares to file a spot Bitcoin ETF to list on the CBOE BZX Exchange in 2021, but the SEC rejected its request in April. Under current rules, the regulator can delay its decision and open the investment offering for public comment for up to 180 days, suggesting the SEC could give a final answer in January 2023.
In the notice appointing a longer term, SEC Deputy Secretary J. Matthew DeLesDernier said he had chosen an extension to give him “sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised in it.” The SEC has never approved an ETF with direct exposure to cryptocurrencies, but it has given the green light to investment vehicles linked to BTC futures, including funds from Valkyrie and ProShares.
In June, when the SEC denied Grayscale’s request to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a BTC spot ETF, the investment manager filed a petition for the courts to review the regulator’s decision. Grayscale’s chief legal strategist, Donald Verrilli, alleged in the filing that the SEC had acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” by “failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.”
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