ProShares Aims to Let Investors Bet Against Bitcoin With New ETF
The company filed an application with the SEC for the Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:05 p.m. UTC
ProShares has applied to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch what would be this country’s first inverse bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
As the name implies, an inverse ETF is designed to perform as the opposite of whatever index or benchmark it is designed to track.
- An ETF that shorts bitcoin (BTC) from Horizons ETFs currently trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
- ProShares introduced, and won SEC approval for, the first bitcoin futures ETF trading in the U.S., the Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO). The SEC has yet to approve a bitcoin ETF that holds actual bitcoin.
- The inverse product, the ProShares Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF, if approved, would also track bitcoin futures.
- Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas notes the SEC rejected a similar offering by Direxion last year, but believes this ProShares product has a shot given ProShares’ track record in getting BITO approved.
UPDATE (April 6, 15:50 UTC): Clarifies that ProShares introduced the first bitcoin futures ETF in the U.S.