<\/p>\n
Cathie Wood\u2019s Ark Invest is buying up shares of the ProShares bitcoin strategy ETF (BITO).<\/p>\n
ARK\u2019s Next Generation Internet ETF, which previously held a large amount of Grayscale bitcoin trust, also exited out of its position according to its holdings<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said that the move is likely because it\u2019s using the money from GBTC as a \u201c[liquid] transition tool to keep beta to [bitcoin] while it legs into ARKW or ARKB.\u201d<\/p>\n Balchunas noted<\/a> that this move wasn\u2019t a surprise, and in his opinion was \u201csmart.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBetter to give your own ETF a nice [assets under management] boost,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The move was addressed by Cathie Wood<\/a>, CEO of Ark Invest, in an interview with Bloomberg TV where she said that the move to exit GBTC and enter BITO was made \u201cout of an abundance of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBITO\u2026is already approved, there\u2019s no regulatory uncertainty having to do with it, so we chose to maintain our exposure through BITO for the time being,\u201d Wood said<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some tax and regulatory uncertainties still, as part of this process\u2026we don\u2019t know exactly who\u2019s going to be approved and whether they\u2019ve met all of the criteria that the SEC has put before us. We know that we have, but we don\u2019t know if others \u2014 including GBTC have. We just don\u2019t know,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n As Balchunas said, and Blockworks previously reported<\/a>, analysts believed that Ark would choose to sell its current GBTC position to move assets over to its bitcoin ETF. According to filings, the ETF \u2014 if it gets approved \u2014 would trade under the ticker ARKB as the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more<\/strong>: As bitcoin ETF saga hits possible homestretch, here\u2019s what to watch for<\/a><\/p>\n The SEC has a deadline of Jan. 10 to rule on the bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg\u2019s James Seyffart believes that multiple decisions could be handed down \u2014 if the SEC is keen on giving the firms a green light \u2014 the week of Jan. 10.<\/p>\n As far as possible SEC approvals go, \u201cwe think the probabilities have gone up,\u201d Wood said in the interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe SEC has been highly engaged,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s not a done deal yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the SEC and we never know what might happen along the way,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n Additionally, ARKW sold more Coinbase, continuing a selling spree that\u2019s been happening for a number of weeks. So far this month, Ark sold nearly 3.7 million shares of both Coinbase and GBTC.<\/a> Roughly 1.5 million of those shares are Coinbase, while the asset manager sold over 2 million of GBTC, which helped to fully exit its position.<\/p>\n Both Ark Invest<\/a> and Grayscale are aiming to launch bitcoin ETFs, though both have different approaches. Grayscale is trying to convert GBTC to a bitcoin ETF.\u00a0<\/p>\n Earlier this year, a court sided with Grayscale<\/a>, giving the firm a win over the Securities and Exchange Commission. The win meant that the SEC had to re-evaluate Grayscale\u2019s proposed GBTC conversion into an ETF after the regulatory agency denied the initial application.<\/p>\n
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