Share this article
SEC Rejects Ark 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF for Second Time
The U.S. markets regular has rejected a score of ETF applications for products that invest directly in bitcoin while approving a number of funds tracking the BTC futures market.
Updated Jan 26, 2023, 9:23 p.m. Published Jan 26, 2023, 5:11 p.m.
For the second time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected a joint effort by Ark Investment Management and 21Shares to list a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The SEC said the Cboe BZX Exchange – on which the ETF would be listed – had failed to "demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements" surrounding prevention of fraud and other malevolent practices.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
An earlier attempt by Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management and Swiss investment products provider 21Shares to list a spot bitcoin ETF in the U.S. was rejected in April. The two firms decided to have another go, filing a new application in May.
The U.S. markets regular has rejected a score of applications for an ETF investing directly in bitcoin, but has approved a number of funds tracking the BTC futures market.
One of the firms to have its bid rejected, Grayscale Investments (owned by CoinDesk parent Digital Currency Group) has chosen to take legal action over the SEC's decision, with oral arguments set to commence on March 7.
Read more: Grayscale Slams SEC's 'Unreasonable' Barring of Spot Bitcoin ETFs
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
State of Crypto: Wrapping Up the Month
Congress continues to make progress on crypto issues but things are moving slowly.
Top Stories
