ARK Invest Ventures into Ether: Cathie Wood Files for Groundbreaking ETF

ARK Invest and 21Shares, major players in the asset management sector, have jointly sought regulatory clearance to introduce an exchange-traded fund (ETF) directly linked to ether (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. This prospective ETF, dubbed the Ark 21Shares Ethereum ETF, represents the pioneering attempt to list such a fund in the U.S. with a primary emphasis on direct investments in ETH.

The custody of assets for this fund would be placed under the stewardship of the Coinbase Custody Trust Company. Initially, this declaration triggered an upswing in the values of both ether and bitcoin. However, this surge proved to be short-lived, as both cryptocurrencies subsequently reverted to prices observed prior to the filing.

This development comes in the wake of a series of applications for a much sought-after spot bitcoin ETF, including a joint endeavor between Ark and 21Shares. Recently, the SEC opted to postpone its decision on all of these applications.

Furthermore, this submission comes ahead of what is anticipated to be the SEC's endorsement of the very first futures-based ether ETF. A decision from the SEC is anticipated to be disclosed on or before the middle of October.

As per a report by broker Bernstein, the industry is likely to advocate for more crypto ETFs, spurred by the recent legal triumph of trust issuer Grayscale against the SEC. The report posits that a spot ETH ETF would be a leading contender, given its analogous market structure to BTC, featuring actively traded futures and spot markets on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), a pivotal regulated platform for institutional investors.