The launch of the Bitcoin investment vehicle’s shares is slated for June 27, but the U.S. SEC has a history of rejecting many petitions for crypto-related ETFs.
A request to list shares of a leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF has been made to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Volatility Shares Trust, a business that specializes in cryptocurrency-linked and other exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
On June 23rd, Volatility Shares Trust filed a document known as a Form 8-A, signaling that it is getting ready to introduce an investment vehicle that is subject to SEC regulation.
The proposed ETF is identified as the “Volatility Shares 2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF” with the ticker code BITX in the registration statement submitted by Volatility Shares Trust. By comparing its performance to the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Daily Roll Index and using a leverage factor of two, this ETF seeks to offer leveraged exposure to Bitcoin.
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The SEC has not formally rejected Volatility Shares Trust’s application to create a leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF at the time of publishing. This would be the first of its sort in the country if allowed. According to the company’s website, trade will start on June 27 while the registration statement is still valid.
Volatility Shares Trust filed a prospectus (SEC Form N-1A) in a separate filing in order to list shares of the leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF on the CBOE BZX Exchange. According to the filing, neither the SEC nor the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission have given their approval or disapproval of the securities, nor have they made a determination about the validity or suitability of the prospectus.
Despite not having approved any spot cryptocurrency ETFs, the SEC has since 2021 permitted ETFs connected to Bitcoin futures. ETFs from firms like Valkyrie and ProShares are among them. In recent months, Valkyrie has also submitted an application to the SEC for the listing of both a spot Bitcoin ETF and its own leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF.
Please be aware that the SEC’s review and approval process for the leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF is ongoing, and status and results are subject to change.
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