ProShares files for five leveraged and inverse bitcoin ETFs

ProShares on Tuesday filed prospectus materials for five leveraged and inverse bitcoin exchange-traded funds, just days after spot bitcoin ETFs began trading.

The names of the funds are ProShares Plus Bitcoin ETF, ProShares Ultra Bitcoin ETF, ProShares UltraShort Bitcoin ETF, Proshares Short Bitcoin ETF and ProShares ShortPlus Bitcoin ETF. 

One of the funds “seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to two times (2x) of the daily performance of the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index,” according to the prospectus materials. 

Two of the funds don’t directly invest in bitcoin, and three do not directly short bitcoin, ProShares said in the filing.

ProShares’ filing comes days after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, which began trading on Jan. 11 and has since generated billions of dollars in trading volume. 

“Quickly getting wild,” Nate Geraci, president of investment advisor The ETF Store, said, commenting on ProShares’ prospectus on Tuesday in a post on X.  “Vanguard definitely won’t have these on their platform.”

Vanguard has said it won’t offer spot bitcoin ETFs on its brokerage platform, citing concerns over bitcoin’s high volatility. 

Others file parallel spot bitcoin products

The New York Stock Exchange, meanwhile, filed a 19b-4 to allow for the listing and trading of options “on Commodity-Based Trust Shares.” 

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the filing is for being able to list options on spot bitcoin ETFs. 

“All three exchanges had to file a 19b-4 (here we go again lol). Earliest approval in 2mo-ish,” Balchunas said on Tuesday in a Twitter post. 

Grayscale Investments filed for a so-called covered call ETF that seeks to generate income from a position in its converted GBTC last week. 

by Sarah Wynn

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