ARK Investment Management, a pro-Bitcoin (BTC) firm founded by veteran investor Cathie Wood, is reportedly leading the race for a spot BTC exchange-traded fund.
In mid-June, investment firm BlackRock submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, prompting widespread optimism in the cryptocurrency markets.
A number of reports have suggested that BlackRock could become the first issuer of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, subject to approval. According to some executives and analysts, that may not be the case.
“Other applicants can modify their applications with similar agreements at little cost,” ARK analyst Yassine Elmandjra reportedly wrote.
Elmandjra stressed that ARK and European asset manager 21Shares filed an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April. “That’s the only thing before BlackRock now,” he added.
Other industry watchers, including Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart, also argued that ARK and 21Shares should come out on top when looking for a Bitcoin ETF.
“21Shares, ARK and Cboe are first as their next SEC decision date is August 13, 2023 and we don’t yet have a date for the other 19b-4 filings like BlackRock’s,” Seyffart said.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust application has sparked a wave of reactivated Bitcoin ETF applications. Firms including crypto fund manager Valkyrie, WisdomTree, and Invesco have recently re-applied for spot Bitcoin ETFs, with Bitwise also reportedly re-attempting a BTC ETF.
“And our bullish case for allowing spot Bitcoin ETFs can be summed up in four key words: ‘What does BlackRock know?'” Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, wrote on Twitter. Nate Geraci, co-founder of the ETF Institute, expressed similar views on Twitter on June 26.
Many industry watchers have highlighted the timing of BlackRock’s spot bitcoin ETF filing, with some claiming that the company may have inside information about the SEC’s BTC ETF guidelines.
Despite the growing optimism about the possible launch of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the US market, many experts believe that such products will not be launched in the near future.
The SEC is unlikely to approve a spot bitcoin ETF in 2023 as it hasn’t made much progress since the Winklevoss twins filed for one in 2017, Wade Guenther, a partner at Wilshire Phoenix, told Phoenix Cointelegraph.
Related: Bitcoin ETF fever returns: Largest inflow to ProShares BITO in a year
“There really hasn’t been much progress since many of these sponsors first submitted their first spot bitcoin ETFs,” Guenther said, adding:
“We do not believe that a spot bitcoin ETF will be available to the public anytime soon as there is still some time left for scrutiny. So it may be that we won’t see a spot bitcoin ETF until next year, possibly even the year after that.”
Earlier, ETF Institute co-founder Geraci predicted that the world would not see a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2023.
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