Bitcoin futures ETF records gains as it begins trading on NYSE

ProShares Bitcoin Strategy, an exchange-traded fund represented by the symbol BITO, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday morning. The price of the fund jumped 3% in the first few minutes, before settling down a bit to a 2.5% gain by 11:15 a.m. ET.

Bitcoin, at the same time, was up 1% to $62,700 on Tuesday, nearing its all-time-high price of $64,863, which it reached in April.

ProShares is the first Bitcoin futures ETF but likely won’t be the last. Other companies that are awaiting the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch their own include Valkyrie, Invesco, and VanEck.

The BITO ETF does not invest in Bitcoin itself but rather in futures contracts, a kind of financial derivative, for the cryptocurrency. That hasn’t slowed down investor enthusiasm in the digital currency, though. Since Sept. 29, Bitcoin’s value has rallied, increasing by more than $20,000.

BITO piqued investors’ excitement. In the ETF’s first 20 minutes, it traded $280 million worth of shares, already ranking it as one of the market’s top ETF launches of all time. The biggest is BlackRock US Carbon Transition Readiness ETF, which traded just under $1.2 billion worth of shares on its first day in April.

Asset managers have been trying to get a Bitcoin ETF approved since 2017 but have regularly been stopped by the SEC. Former Chair Jay Clayton was against the investment vehicles, fearing they could be susceptible to market manipulation. Gary Gensler, current head of the SEC, has been more open to cryptocurrency futures investing, which is where the current batch of applicants, including ProShares, have focused. 

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