This investment fund has sold all its shares in Grayscale. And there?

Ark Invest has sold over 2 million shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). This money appears to be used for both the ProShares Bitcoin ETF and its own ETF.

Money for your own Bitcoin ETF

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas says the sale is likely because the GBTC money will be used as a “net transition tool to maintain beta for Bitcoin as it transitions to ARKW or ARKB.”

Watt? Grayscale wants to convert its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF, but ARK Invest also wants to launch an ETF. Assuming the SEC approves Grayscale, ARK Invest’s money would be seed capital for a competing ETF.

Balchunas say So this is not a surprise, but rather smart. “You better give your own ETF a big boost,” he said.

Futures-based Bitcoin ETF

Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, discusses this in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Selling GBTC shares is also a matter of caution, she says.

“BITO… has already been approved, there is no regulatory uncertainty, so we have decided to maintain our commitment through BITO for the time being,” Wood said.

BITO is ProShares’ Bitcoin strategy ETF. The SEC has already approved this ETF because its value is determined by Bitcoin futures contracts and not the price of Bitcoin itself. So it is a derivative of a Bitcoin derivative and apparently safe enough for the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“There are still some budgetary and regulatory uncertainties as part of this process. We don’t know exactly who will be approved or if they meet all the criteria the SEC has presented to us. We know we have done this, but we do not know if others, including GBTC, have done this. We simply don’t know.