ARK Invest has become the first company to take steps towards the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in January, by submitting the mandatory S-1 amendment to the SEC. The SEC had set December 29 as the deadline for this application process.
Previously, the SEC had met with representatives from at least seven firms on December 21, setting a deadline for the final S-1 amendments to be submitted by December 29. The SEC warned that any issuer not completing this process by the deadline would not have their spot Bitcoin ETF applications considered in the initial January approval phase.
ARK Invest made a change to its S-1 registration statement for the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) fund on December 28. According to a Bloomberg ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, the amendment focused on authorized participants.
On December 19, ARK updated its application, altering the cash creation and redemption processes for the fund shares. This change reflects a process that is compliant with other issuers who are required to adhere to the SEC’s cash creation clause, which is a significant condition.
Bloomberg ETF analysts, including James Seyffart, were surprised by the absence of amended Bitcoin ETF applications. Balchunas suggested that companies might wait until the last minute to make changes to prevent competitors from seeing their strategies.
With over a dozen firms competing for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF fund, more updated S-1 filings are expected to be submitted to the SEC in the coming days. Nate Geraci, President of ETF Store, expressed enthusiasm for the expected launch of spot Bitcoin ETF funds in January, noting that it will encourage traditional finance investors to learn about crypto and vice versa, bridging the gap between the two markets.