Ark Invest teams up with new Bitcoin futures ETF

Jennifer Schonberger joins the Yahoo Finance panel to discuss Cathie Wood's latest venture into teaming up with a new Bitcoin futures ETF and the impact ARK 21Shares Bitcoin Futures Strategy could have on the future of crypto.

Video transcript

JULIE HYMAN: Well there certainly must be a lot of Bitcoin ETF applications piling up on SEC chair's Gary Gensler's desk. There is a new one, the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin futures strategy ETF. Yes Ark is in that name, Cathie Wood's associated with it, but not entirely involved. Jennifer Schonberger is here to explain the story behind this. Good morning, Jen.

JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Morning, Julie. That's right, Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management firm looking to invest in a new Bitcoin futures ETF according to a brand new filing with the SEC on Wednesday. Now the people who have submitted this application are not Ark Investment Management. Rather it's an ETF issuer called Alpha Architect, along with sub advisor 21Shares. Ark investment is expected to provide marketing support, not offer investment advice or investment decisions.

Of course Cathie Wood, a long time Bitcoin bull, she has predicted that Bitcoin could sort to $500,000 over the next five years. And she is joining the ranks on Wall Street for a hope that the SEC will soon approve a new Bitcoin futures ETF. And that's been one of the forces that's been driving the price of Bitcoin as of late.

Investment firms have been rushing to submit applications after SEC chair Gary Gensler said he would be more open to approving one. Now when asked about the potential timing for an approval on a new Bitcoin futures ETF, the SEC says no update yet. This morning an SEC spokesman telling me filings are confidential and are not made public. And as such, the SEC does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of filings.

Now Julie, Ark and 21Shares have filed previously for a Bitcoin ETF. We all await with bated breath from the SEC. Back to you.

- Jen for the crypto newbies out there, how big of a deal would a would a Bitcoin ETF be for the industry?

JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: It would be huge because you have a number of people who can't really access the coins unless they go directly to a cryptocurrency exchange. So you would have a whole new class of investors that would be piling into this space, and that could really fuel the price upward.

JULIE HYMAN: And Jen, just to be clear, there are Bitcoin ETFs that trade outside of the United States, correct?

JENNIFER SCHONBERGER: Yes and I would also say that there is a Bitcoin Trust. So it's called the Grayscale, a lot of folks invest in this. And it's a trust, though, that invests in Bitcoin.

And we do know that there are futures that trade on the CBOE, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, so the CFTC has authorized that. But that's a little bit different because you have to actually post cash in order to invest in those futures directly. That would be different than an ETF that the SEC would have to approve.

JULIE HYMAN: Indeed good to know that there are a lot of different ways to get in. But not yet a US based ETF. We'll see if there's any news on that front soon, and we'll count on you to bring it to us. Jen Schonberger, thank you.