Bloomberg Analyst: Cathie Wood ‘Temporarily Parked’ GBTC Share Sale Funds

Following reports about Cathie Wood’s asset management firm Ark Invest offloading all the remaining stocks of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ($GBTC), Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas informed that the firm diverted a significant portion of the share sale funds to purchase ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF ($BITO) stock.

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Cathie Wood Prioritizing Bitcoin ETF Space

Earlier, CoinGape reported that Cathie Wood sold off the entire holdings of Grayscale GBTC remaining remaining in the Ark Invest portfolio, possibly in anticipation of the spot Bitcoin ETF approval before the January 10, 2024 deadline. Interestingly, GBTC was Ark Invest’s largest holding until recently. According to data from the Bloomberg analyst, Ark Invest sold all its remaining position in $GBTC only to temporarily place a significant part of the fund in another Bitcoin ETF stock, the ProShares $BITO stock.

Balchunas revealed that the Cathie Wood company invested half of the funds, worth around $100 million, from GBTC sale to buy $BITO. This is likely a part of Ark Invest’s strategy to have $BITO as a liquid transition tool prior to ARK 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF ($ARKB) and ARK Next Generation Internet ETF ($ARKW) becoming a reality. With the investment in $BITO, Ark Invest became the second largest holder of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF stock.

“Just like that ARK is now the second biggest holder of $BITO, although again this is a temporary parking spot.”

The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF

It was on April 25, 2023 that Ark Invest and 21Shares decided to resubmit the application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. Prior to this, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) denied several applications for the spot ETF, including 21Shares’ filings. However, the US regulator has shown signs of a turnaround in its approach towards ETFs possibly owing to its loss in the Grayscale lawsuit, in which the US Court ruled that the SEC review its previous denial of Grayscale’s ETF application.

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