ProShares preps slate of bitcoin ETFs — but not a spot fund

Firm that launched the first bitcoin futures ETF in 2021 intends to launch five more crypto offerings

January 17, 2024 10:08 am

ProShares and Abdiahmurtaqi/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

Just days following the debut of the first spot bitcoin ETFs, ProShares is prepping other BTC-related offerings.

The firm, however, still has not divulged plans to offer a fund that would hold bitcoin directly.

ProShares is perhaps best known for launching the first bitcoin futures ETF in October 2021. Up until last week, that fund — the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) — was the largest crypto ETF in the US.

The company now seeks to expand its lineup with five new leveraged and inverse bitcoin funds, Tuesday filings show.

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Read more: Bitcoin ETF Tracker

The planned ETFs seek daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to the daily performance of the Bloomberg Galaxy Bitcoin Index at different levels.

The index is designed to measure the performance of 1 bitcoin (BTC) traded in USD. Bitcoin pricing is sourced from the Bloomberg Bitcoin Crypto Fixing Rate, which was created in May 2018.

The ProShares Ultra Bitcoin ETF, for example, would seek results corresponding to two times the daily performance of that benchmark, while the ProShares UltraShort Bitcoin ETF would look to offer exposure equal to two times the inverse of the index.

A so-called Plus Bitcoin ETF and ShortPlus Bitcoin ETF would seek results at 1.5 times and -1.5 times the daily performance of the index, respectively. The planned ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF would seek results equaling the inverse of the benchmark.

The five funds would not invest in bitcoin directly.

ProShares was not among the wave of issuers that collectively launched 10 spot bitcoin ETFs last week — the first products of their kind in the US.

ProShares Investment Strategist Simeon Hyman called the bitcoin futures market “mature, liquid and regulated,” during a Bloomberg TV interview. “There are a lot of things we don’t know about the spot market,” he added.

A company spokesperson did not immediately comment further.

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