The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF, after dismissing, delaying, or ignoring dozens of applications over the last four years.
On Friday, ProShares filed an amended prospectus, indicating that it had gotten approval to proceed with its Bitcoin Strategy ETF on Monday.
Although the company’s ETF is linked to Bitcoin futures contracts rather than the current price of Bitcoin, its approval is nevertheless significant for the crypto industry.
Should the SEC approve the application, the assets will be listed on NYSE Arca. ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF will be listed with the ticker code BITO with 95 basis points, according to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart.
ETFs are investment products that track the price of stocks, commodities, or other assets and are exchanged like stocks on public exchanges.
That means they may be bought and traded during regular market hours, and they might be readily incorporated into retirement and savings programs for consumers who might otherwise be hesitant to acquire crypto on an exchange like Coinbase due to the difficulties of doing so.
A “pure” Bitcoin ETF, which would closely track BTC’s actual price, is yet to be approved in the United States. After SEC Chair Gary Gensler hinted that futures-backed ETF proposals would have an easier time getting approved, firms hoping for such an ETF began to shift their focus to futures-backed ETF proposals.
An increasing number of companies, like Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital and Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest, is awaiting permission for their own ETFs.
Two more Bitcoin futures ETFs might be on the market by the end of October, as the SEC confronts deadlines to approve offers from VanEck and Valkyrie.
