The first BTC futures-linked exchange-traded fund in the US started trading on the NYSE, opening for $40 per share. Notably, the Bitcoin price surged to a 5-month high of $63,293 after the shares of ProShares’ ETF opened for trading.
Based on the New York Stock Exchange, ProShares’ Bitcoin (BTC) Strategy ETF, the first ETF enabling the American investors to have direct exposure to crypto futures, opened at $40 per share of BITO before gaining 3.8% to hit $41.54 at the time of writing.
The NYSE welcomes @ProSharesETF in celebration of the first U.S. Bitcoin-Linked ETF $BITO https://t.co/0qh0NDS2d4
— NYSE 🏛 (@NYSE) October 19, 2021
The addition of the cryptocurrency fund to a huge stock exchange comes after years of deferred decisions from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the regulator that is responsible for approving the asset. On October 18, ProShares CEO Michael Sapir said:
“BITO will open up exposure to Bitcoin to a large segment of investors who have a brokerage account and are comfortable buying stocks and ETFs, but do not desire to go through the hassle and learning curve of establishing another account with a cryptocurrency provider and creating a Bitcoin wallet or are concerned that these providers may be unregulated and subject to security risks.”
The SEC started by accepting the registration request filed by ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF on the NYSE on October 15. Shortly after that, the regulator did the same for the shares of Valkyrie’s BTC futures ETF for a famous listing on the Nasdaq.
Grayscale Institutional asset manager also announced on October 18 that it planned to change its GBTC Trust into an ETF in the coming months. The Securities and Exchange Commission today has many crypto ETF applications under consideration. In that context, the global chief legal officer working at blockchain investigative platform Merkle Science, Mary Beth Buchanan, stated:
“The ProShares ETF will provide greater market access and ease of use for institutional investors who want to get into the cryptocurrency markets. The newest futures-based ETF will trade on the NYSE and will feel more familiar to institutional investors than opening individual trading accounts and trading directly on a spot or futures-based cryptocurrency exchange or crypto trading platform.”
Based on data acquired from the markets, the Bitcoin price surged after the shares of ProShares’ ETF opened for trading. The flagship crypto surged from $62,557 to reach a 5-month high of $63,293. Bitcoin managed to move above $63,000 for the first time since April 16, when it hit an all-time high of $64,863.
