21Shares announces 3-for-1 share split for its spot Bitcoin ETF

21Shares US LLC announced a 3-for-1 share split for its flagship ARK 21Shares Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, ARKB, aiming to make the fund more accessible to retail investors.The move, announced in a company press release on June 2, will take effect at the opening of markets on June 16. The split will triple the number of shares available, reducing the price per share without affecting the fund’s overall value. 21Shares stated that the split is intended “to make shares more accessible to a broader base of investors and enhance trading efficiency.” ARKB will continue to trade under its current ticker, with no changes to its net asset value, investment strategy, or underlying Bitcoin (BTC) holdings. The fund is a physically backed spot Bitcoin ETF that tracks the New York Variant of the Chicago Mercentile Exchange CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. It provides direct access to Bitcoin in a regulated investment environment. ARKB, which is now trading at $104.33, has gained about 27% in the last quarter and nearly 12% this year. The fund currently holds 45,410 Bitcoin, which is worth about $4.82 billion, as per SoSoValue data.On June 2, it recorded a trading volume of $53.68 million and a single-day outflow of 700 BTC, or roughly $73.9 million. Coinbase Custody is the main custodian, with BitGo and Anchorage Digital Bank helping to lower counterparty risk.The share split comes at a time when interest in crypto ETFs is growing rapidly, following the Securities and Exchange Commission’s landmark approval of spot Bitcoin funds in January 2024. Since then, the ETF market has expanded rapidly, with $125 billion now held across 11 U.S.-listed Bitcoin ETFs. According to data from SoSoValue, the sector has drawn $5.26 billion in net inflows over the past month alone.21Shares is positioning the split as part of a strategy to drive retail participation. With Bitcoin recently climbing above $100,000, lowering the per-share cost could attract new investors while maintaining institutional appeal.The company launched the first physically-backed crypto exchange-traded product in 2018. In addition to ARKB, its U.S. offerings include the ARK 21Shares Active Bitcoin Futures Strategy ETF, which trades Bitcoin futures, and the ARK 21Shares Blockchain and Digital Payments ETF, which targets companies building products in blockchain infrastructure and digital finance.