Bloomberg analyst sees signs of imminent U.S. bitcoin ETF approval

The update to Valkyrie Investments’ fund prospectus and ARK Invest’s new filing are “good signs” for approval by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of the first Bitcoin ETFs. This view was voiced by Eric Balchunas, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst.

ARK Invest filed with the regulator to launch an exchange-traded fund based on CME Bitcoin futures and designated the ticker ARKA. Valkyrie updated the prospectus of a similar product and said for it the exchange ticker BTF.

According to Balchunas, firms typically update filings and assign a ticker when everything is ready to launch and the deal with the SEC is close.

«Меня спрашивают, на что я смотрю в первую очередь, чтобы подтвердить одобрение SEC. А это именно такие обновленные формы проспектов эмиссии. При запуске они заполняют все пропущенные графы и добавляют тикер. Однако это биткоин, так что нельзя быть уверенным», — заявил эксперт.

In September, ARK Invest made changes to the prospectus of the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, which contemplated investments in Canadian crypto-based exchange-traded funds.

In the new filing, the firm does not mention Canada or GBTC options, the fund invests only in futures, Balchunas noted. According to him, this is exactly what the SEC, led by Gary Gensler, is aiming for.

In early August, Gensler said the agency was open to proposals for launching ETFs if they are based on CME bitcoin futures and comply with the Investment Company Act of 1940. He later confirmed this position of the regulator.

In October, the SEC approved an ETF based on a basket of bitcoin-related stocks from Volt Equity. Commenting on the Commission’s favorable decision, the firm’s CEO Ted Park noted that most potential fund issuers do not heed Gensler’s recommendations.

As a reminder, in February 2021 Canada became the first in the world to approve a bitcoin ETF. A month later, Brazil followed suit.

Bloomberg analysts previously predicted that the SEC would register the first ETF based on the leading cryptocurrency by the end of October.