(This June 28 story corrects headline and paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 to make clear that 21Shares, not ARK, filed to offer the ETF and that ARK is providing marketing)
(Reuters) – Star stock picker Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest is teaming up with 21Shares US LLC, which filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to create a bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF), the latest fund manager attempting to cash in on investors’ growing interest in cryptocurrencies.
Wood, whose ARK Innovation ETF was the top-performing U.S. equity fund last year, has been a vocal proponent of bitcoin, and Wood’s firm will provide marketing for the proposed ETF, according to the filing.
Her flagship ARK Innovation fund owns around $820 million worth of shares in cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global, making it the fund’s 10th largest holding. Coinbase has fallen 35% since its stock market debut in April.
21Shares’ application to the SEC follows recent filings by Fidelity and CBOE Global Markets in March. The SEC has yet to approve a bitcoin ETF.
Bitcoin tumbled in recent days to a two-week low as China’s expanding crackdown on bitcoin mining made investors more uncertain about the future of the leading cryptocurrency. Bitcoin on Monday traded at about $34,450, compared to its April peak of nearly $65,000.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
