Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has sold approximately $200 million of its remaining holdings in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.GBTCAccording to Bloomberg Intelligence, $100 million of the proceeds were used to purchase shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO).
ARK Invest became the second-largest holder of the Bitcoin futures ETF with its $100 million purchase of BITO, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted. The asset manager sold 2.25 million shares of GBTC stock and purchased 4.32 million shares of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
Balchunas suggested that ARK Invest’s move to BITO “is most likely a liq conversion tool to maintain beta in btc while tying to $ARKW or $ARKB.” ARKW is the ticker of ARK’s next-generation Internet ETF, and ARKB is the ticker of ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Just a month ago, ARKW’s GBTC position was its largest holding. Asset managers went on a selling spree, selling GBTC positions as Bitcoin rose to yearly highs.
ARK Invest’s portfolio overhaul comes amid heated speculation about the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company is one of many hopefuls vying to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF.
So far, the SEC has rejected every Bitcoin ETF application that has crossed its desk, but meetings between the regulator and applicants have become more frequent over the past few months since BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, entered the fray. June 2023.
A subsequent court ruling ordering the SEC to review Grayscale’s application to convert GBTC into a spot Bitcoin ETF added fuel to the fire. With January approaching the opportunity for the SEC to approve multiple applications simultaneously, hopefuls are rushing to dot their i’s and dot their t’s.
Last week, Barry Silbert stepped down as chairman of Grayscale Investments, sparking speculation that the move may have been instigated to pave the way for the company’s ETF hopes.