SEC shoots down Ark Investment’s BTC spot ETF for second time

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has shot down yet another BTC spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) application, this time rejecting Ark Investment Management for the second time.

Ark teamed up with Swiss exchange-traded products (ETP) provider 21Shares for the first time on the ETF application in July 2021. However, on March 31, 2022, the SEC rejected the application. It claimed that the applicants hadn’t proven that the ETF was “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and “to protect investors and the public interest.”

Ark and 21Shares partnered again in May and refiled the ETF application, and once again, the securities watchdog has rejected the application.

The SEC’s rejection hinged on the two companies not doing enough to convince it that the ETF would be devoid of manipulation and fraud.

To approve a BTC spot ETF, the SEC demands that the exchange that lists it demonstrates that it has “a comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size related to the underlying or reference bitcoin assets.”

The regulator says it would need proof that the trading of the ETF would not be the predominant influence on prices in the market.

Ark, which is run by renowned Wall Street veteran Cathie Wood joins a long list of companies whose BTC spot ETF applications have been rejected. While the SEC has approved ETFs that trade BTC futures, the Gary Gensler-led agency has been adamant against spot ETFs.

The most prominent rejection remains Grayscale’s ETF application to convert its BTC Trust into an ETF. Grayscale, a subsidiary of the Digital Currency Group (DCG), has refused to accept the SEC decision and sued the regulator last year. Oral arguments between the two factions begin in a month on March 7.

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