The first index fund (ETF) linked to bitcoin futures will debut in the US market this Tuesday, a “milestone” for the cryptocurrency sector, which has generated great expectation and has brought closer to the most used virtual currency to its all-time highs.
The provider specialized in this type of financial products ProShares announced today that it will list this fund on the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow, called Bitcoin Strategy ETF, after receiving the green light from the United States Securities Market Commission (SEC) on Friday. ), an important institutional support.
The US regulator has been reluctant for years to approve any index fund related to bitcoin due to doubts about its transparency, and the difference is that this new product does not invest directly in the cryptocurrency but in the futures contracts associated with it.
In August, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said he was open to giving the go-ahead to cryptocurrency index funds that trade futures contracts, as their trading goes through regulated platforms, in this case on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. .
The index fund, which will operate under the BITO label, “offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to the returns of bitcoin in a convenient way, through a brokerage account” in which it can be bought and sold as if it were a action, the company explained in a statement.
ProShares CEO Michael L Sapir noted that BITO will mark a “milestone for ETFs” and is especially interesting because it saves investors “the hassle” of creating a bitcoin portfolio at a cryptocurrency provider for those concerned about its regulation and risk.
“We believe that a multitude of investors have been looking forward to the launch of a Bitcoin-linked ETF after years of efforts to launch one,” added the executive of this company, which has offered a wide variety of index funds since 2006.
In that sense, Sapir stressed that this year “will be remembered for the first index fund linked to cryptocurrencies”, just as 1993 is for the first fund linked to securities, 2002 for the first related to bonds or 2004 for the pioneer of the gold.
Bitcoin was around US $ 62,000 this Monday, close to its maximum of almost US $ 65,000 registered last April, due to the imminent IPO of this product. Since the beginning of the year, bitcoin has appreciated more than 110%.
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