Hassan Maishera
US SEC approves the ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF
The United States SEC has approved the first Bitcoin futures ETF in the country. The approval came over the weekend, and the futures ETF is set to start trading on the NYSE Arca exchange today.
The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF will give exposure to bitcoin futures contracts instead of the spot market. It will trade under the ticker “BITO.” The proposed date for the listing is Monday, according to the new filling.
The approval of a futures ETF for bitcoin is seen as a partial victory by some in the crypto community, with the SEC yet to approve a similar fund that tracks the spot-market price of bitcoin.
An ETF (exchange-traded fund”) is an asset that trades on the open market like a stock and is open to regular investors. Prior to the launch of the Bitcoin futures ETF, some companies, like Grayscale, have products that offer exposure to bitcoin already. However, they are only available to qualified wealthy investors or in over-the-counter markets. With the Grayscale crypto funds, the shares often trade at a price that does not match the underlying cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is close to its all-time high again
Following the approval of the Bitcoin futures ETF by the US SEC, Bitcoin rallied past the $60k level and touched $62k earlier today. The leading cryptocurrency is currently trading above the $61,000 level and is down by less than 5% from its all-time high price of roughly $65k.
Bitcoin has been rallying since the start of the month, up by more than 30% over the past few weeks. It could soon touch the $65k level and set a new all-time high. Some market experts and analysts expect BTC’s price to top the $100k level before the end of the year.
