ProShares, an asset management company, has revealed plans to launch a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) by next Monday. This move will end an eight-year wait for a financial product tracking the cryptocurrency in the U.S. stock market, according to a filing. The fund management company submitted an updated prospectus late Friday to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the Bitcoin ETF's strategy. The filing indicated that October 18 is the approximate proposed launch date for the fund, which will trade on the NYSE Arca Exchange, imposing a management fee of 0.95%. A ProShares official declined to comment, and a spokesperson for the SEC did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Bloomberg reported last Thursday that it is unlikely the SEC will prevent the fund from trading next week, according to people familiar with the matter. Unless there is a last-minute opposing action, the fund's launch would crown nearly a decade-long campaign by the $6.7 trillion exchange-traded fund industry. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins known for their role in Facebook's history, submitted the first application for a Bitcoin ETF in 2013.
Such an exchange-traded fund has been out of reach for U.S. issuers for almost a decade as regulators raised concerns about everything from price manipulation to verifying cryptocurrency ownership held by the funds. The mood changed in August when SEC Chairman Gary Gensler indicated a preference for futures-based ETFs traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and offered under the 1940s Act, a position he reiterated late last month.
This openness has spurred a flood of futures-backed filings, and four futures-based Bitcoin ETFs could begin trading on U.S. exchanges this month, with deadlines approaching for applications filed by Invesco, VanEck, and Valkyrie.
The ETF should provide greater ease of use for retail investors looking to ride the often volatile Bitcoin waves. Like securities tracking oil and gold, it will be traded in relatively familiar venues within the U.S. stock market, as opposed to cryptocurrency or futures exchanges that can impose burdens on some users.
It is worth noting that Bitcoin has risen in recent weeks, fueled by speculation that its American launch may be imminent. The largest cryptocurrency in the world surpassed $62,000 for the first time since April last Friday, just shy of its all-time high of $64,869 earlier this year. Bitcoin has also more than doubled from its low in late July.
