ProShares’ bitcoin futures ETF will begin trading in the coming week, an amended filing by the company announced late Friday that marks a milestone in the development of the crypto industry in the United States.
The Securities and Exchange Commission hadn’t officially approved the creation of Bitcoin futures ETFs by Friday afternoon, and the agency may never issue a formal approval statement for them. However, ProShares’ announcement suggests that the agency is unlikely to block the listing at this point.
NYSE Arca “certified their listing” late Friday afternoon, meaning the exchange will allow investors to trade the funds under federal law without SEC intervention. A person familiar with the SEC’s decision-making clarified that the ETF is allowed to start trading next week, unless there are last-minute complaints from the regulator.
The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which enables exposure to Bitcoin futures contracts but not in the spot market, is traded under the ticker “BITO”.
The suggested date for the listing is Monday according to the new filing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean trading will start then. That could come later in the week. ProShares declined to comment.
Crypto advocates have been pushing regulators to approve a Bitcoin-related ETF for years, and many expect the arrival to bring a new class of investors into digital currencies.
The anticipation of the ETF listing appeared to have spurred Bitcoin price over the past week. The cryptocurrency is up more than 10% in the past week, trading above $ 61,000 on Friday afternoon.
Several companies, including Invesco and Valkyrie, have requested the launch of similar ETFs that could hit ProShares in the coming weeks.
The approval of a futures ETF for Bitcoin is viewed only as a partial victory by some in the crypto community, as the outlook for a similar fund tracking Bitcoin’s spot market price remains unclear.
An ETF, which stands for “Exchange Traded Fund”, is an asset that is traded in the open market like a share and is open to regular investors. Some companies, like Grayscale, have products that already offer exposure to Bitcoin, but they are only available to qualified high net worth investors or in over-the-counter markets, where stocks are often traded at a price that is inconsistent with the underlying cryptocurrency.
– CNBC’s Tom Franck and Tanaya Macheel contributed to this report.
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