ARK Invest kicks off Bitcoin ETF 'amendment-athon' ahead of deadline

ARK Invest has become the first to file its final S-1 amendment for its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF ahead of a reported SEC-imposed deadline — which is being understood as a requirement to be considered in the first wave of approvals in January.

According to an earlier report, officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission met with representatives of at least seven firms on Dec. 21, setting a deadline for applicants to file their final S-1 amendments by Dec. 29.

Regulators reportedly told attendees at the meetings that any issuer that doesn’t meet the deadline will not be part of a first wave of potential spot Bitcoin ETF approvals in early January.

According to an SEC filing, ARK Invest filed an amendment to the S-1 registration statement for their Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB) late on Dec. 28.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that the amendment was centered around authorized participants.

On Dec. 19, Ark revised its application with a change to cash creations and redemptions for shares in the fund. This was in line with other issuers who had to "bend the knee" to cash creations.

ARK kicks off the S-1 Amendment-athon. Ahead of the pack as usual. Unclear yet what was changed tho, AP mentioned a ton but not named. Assuming that will prob come in the very final effective update just prior to launch. But we still don't know if they have signed agreement. https://t.co/mcNgpoR451

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 28, 2023

Fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said earlier that he was surprised not to have seen any amended Bitcoin ETF filings yet. Balchunas commented that many may wait until the last minute because they don’t want to show their competitors the amendments.

More than a dozen firms are vying for an approved spot Bitcoin ETF, so it is expected that more amended S-1 filings will be submitted over the coming day.

Related: Bitcoin ETF issuers push 3 crypto ads in 48 hours

Remarking on the flurry of activity leading up to the anticipated launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, ETF Store President Nate Geraci said :

“I love the fact that this saga is forcing more TradFi investors to learn about crypto and more crypto investors to learn about ETF wrapper. That is “The Bridge”. Crypto isn’t going away.”

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