ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF, the first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked exchange-traded fund in the United States, will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday under the ticker BITO.
Following several years of effort to publish a bitcoin ETF on an exchange, ProShares CEO Michael Sapir stated the debut marks a significant milestone for cryptocurrency ETFs in the United States:
“BITO will continue the legacy of ETFs that provide investors convenient, liquid access to an asset class. 1993 is remembered for the first equity ETF, 2002 for the first bond ETF, and 2004 for the first gold ETF. 2021 will be remembered for the first cryptocurrency-linked ETF.”
The debut of the Bitcoin ETF on the NYSE, according to Sapir, provides investors in traditional financial markets with significant exposure.
“BITO will provide exposure to Bitcoin to a large segment of investors who already have a brokerage account and are comfortable buying stocks and ETFs, but do not want to go through the hassle and learning curve of opening a second account with a cryptocurrency provider and creating a Bitcoin wallet, or who are concerned that these providers may be unregulated and subject to security risks,” he said.
The announcement comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved ProShares’ Bitcoin ETF registration request on Friday.
The SEC also approved a registration request for shares of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF to be listed on Nasdaq on the same day.
Volt Crypto Industry Revolution and Tech ETF, a crypto ETF connected to companies with Bitcoin exposure, including MicroStrategy and Tesla, was approved by the SEC on Oct. 5.
“Though it isn’t holding the real coin, it doesn’t appear that a coin-based ETF will be released this year,” said Volt Equity CEO Tad Park.
“The next approvals will most likely be futures-based ETFs that seek for bitcoin exposure as well, but they come with their own set of issues that a coin-based ETF doesn’t have.”
Bitcoin’s price has risen by roughly 30% in the last 14 days, topping $60,000 for the first time since April, owing to encouraging Bitcoin ETF news in the United States. According to data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin is currently trading at $61,692, up about 1.3 percent in the last 24 hours.
