Cathie Wood's Ark Invest Refiles Bitcoin ETF Application—Here's What's New

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has filed a second amended application for a spot Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The latest version, filed on October 11, introduces additional risk warnings associated with the Bitcoin network that could negatively affect the price of an ETF among other minor adjustments.

These new risks include issues related to electricity consumption, a community-driven upgrade to Bitcoin’s source code, and competition within the industry.

Furthermore, it stipulates that the custodian, in this case, Coinbase, will hold the assets backing the ETF in segregated addresses on the Bitcoin blockchain and will not to be “commingled with corporate or other customer assets.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the collapsed FTX exchange, is currently on trial, facing charges related to commingling user funds.

Ark refiling includes ‘minor edits and details’

Ark Invest resubmitted its application in April this year, following a rejection in 2021. This was just two months ahead of heavyweight BlackRock filing its application.

In July, Cathie Wood’s firm amended the application to align it with BlackRock’s, addressing the Commission’s market manipulation concerns and adding a surveillance-sharing agreement.

The latest amendment only includes “minor edits and details,” said Alistair Milne, a prominent Bitcoin investor and co-founder and CIO at Altana Digital Currency Fund.

He added that the amendments suggest Ark is following “feedback from the SEC as it properly engages for the first time.”

The new filing adds environmental concerns, and the potential effects of illicit transactions which could “adversely affect the bitcoin industry and an investment in the Trust.”

Bloomberg’s ETF expert Eric Balchunaus found that there are “five extra pages” with “stuff is sprinkled throughout.”

He called the minor step forward a “good sign” and “solid progress” on the long trek to the industry’s first spot Bitcoin ETF approval.