A company that offers cryptocurrency and other related exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) an application to list shares of a Bitcoin futures leveraged ETF.
Volatility Shares Trust presented filed Form 8-A with the SEC on June 23, suggesting the company is preparing to launch an investment vehicle that the regulator might consider a class of securities under its purview. The registration statement contained the “2x Bitcoin Strategy ETF” of Volatility Shares, ticker BITX, which offered leveraged exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) corresponding to twice the daily return of the S&P CME Bitcoin Futures Daily Roll Index.
The 2x bitcoin ETF $BITX has become effective, scheduled to launch Tuesday. I was doubtful it would happen but it looks like it’s official. Could this be early sign of SEC lightening up? despues de $BITO launch I believe they made earlier 2x filers withdraw pic.twitter.com/XXxSt9xypu
—Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 23, 2023
At press time, the SEC had not explicitly denied Volatility Shares’ application for the crypto investment vehicle — a leveraged BTC futures ETF would be the first of its kind in the United States. The Volatility Shares Trust website stated that it planned to start trading on June 27, but added that the registration statement “has not yet become effective.”
Another SEC Form N-1A for the CBOE BZX Exchange Bitcoin Futures Leveraged ETF stock listing stated that neither the SEC nor the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission had “approved or disapproved these values nor had they ruled on the accuracy or adequacy of this form”. The SEC has a pattern of denying many applications for cryptocurrency-linked ETFs.
While the US financial regulator has not approved any spot cryptocurrency ETFs, it began allowing ETFs tied to BTC futures starting in 2021, including those from Valkyrie and ProShares. In May and June, respectively, Valkyrie has filed with the SEC for listing of its own leveraged Bitcoin futures ETF, as well as a BTC spot ETF.
The request came at a time when the SEC is embroiled in lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase over alleged unregistered security offerings. Some US lawmakers have called for the removal of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler for his “regulation by enforcement” approach to cryptocurrency and other companies.
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