Does a Crypto ETF Change Your Risk or Just Who Holds It?

On November 5, Wei Wayne Miao, chief legal officer of 21Shares US, argued that registered investment vehicles using qualified custodians and segregated assets may offer stronger legal protection than accounts at trading venues. 21Shares sponsors the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, whose filings show its Bitcoin is split among four custodians and that most sits in segregated cold wallets. The filings also set limits: Coinbase Custody’s liability is capped at $100 million per cold-storage address, and the four custodians report $685 million in aggregate theft insurance shared across all clients. The analysis cites Binance’s estimated $6.3 billion October breach as a test of exchange-account protections.