US SEC Delays ARK Spot Bitcoin ETF Filing; Blackrock Decision Soon?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 took a decision to delay the ARK Invest 21Shares spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) filing. This could effectively narrow down any chances of a spot ETF approval within 2023.

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ARK Invest Filing Gets Delay

According to the SEC’s update on the ARK Invest 21Shares filing, the agency now seeks a longer period for any action on the proposed rule change. Considering that the decision was due only on November 11, 2023, the delay decision came in relatively early and just in time before the SEC Chair Gary Gensler hearing before the Financial Services Committee later on September 27, 2023.

A message from the SEC on ARK Invest filing reportedly said,

“Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for Commission Action on Proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove a proposed rule change…”

Approval In 2024

Hence, James Seyffart, a Bloomberg ETF analyst, believes that the agency may have dashed any hopes of ETF approval in 2023 with this decision. Decisions on the filings of BlackRock, Bitwise, and Wisdomtree among others is due in the third week of October 2023. Will there be updates on all these applications very soon?

“If they went on Ark/21 shares already, we may see delays on all the other filings today too? BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Wisdomtree, Fidelity and Valkyrie are all due in mid October.”

It was only on September 12, 2023 that Franklin Templeton has joined the long list of big financial companies vying for the first ever spot BTC ETF approval in the United States. However, CoinGape reported that the investment management firm is yet to file the 19b-4, a key step in the approval process.

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